MOTORWAY INFRASTRUCTURE DEVELOPMENT AND ITS IMPACTS ON CROPPING PATTERNS AND RURAL LIVELIHOODS IN PUNJAB, PAKISTAN

Abstract

This study was conducted to assess the impact of motorway infrastructure projects on land use change and livelihood strategies of farming households in the rural areas of the Punjab, Pakistan. Study was conducted during 2023-24. There is a general agreement on the fact that one of the most important factors for the development of the region, is transport infrastructure, which creates new livelihood opportunities. However, land use change from agriculture to non- agricultural purpose known as land conversion can also be an outcome of road construction. land conversion has also disturbed the balance of environment and particularly agricultural biodiversity. In this context, the objective of the research was to assess the impact of motorway infrastructure projects on cropping pattern change and rural livelihoods in Punjab, Pakistan. For sampling purpose, a multistage method was applied to obtain a required information from 400 farming households. There are five motorways in Punjab Province, and out of these, three motorways were constructed during the last four years. Two newly constructed motorways were selected randomly. One tehsil from each region was selected purposely from where the motorways were being passed. From each tehsil, two union councils were selected purposely and after selection of union councils, three villages were selected, and from each village farming households were selected proportionately. The results obtained indicated after motorway construction, that 57.5% of respondents reported increase in their income through non-farming sources. ‘increased in the land value’ with the respondent’s opinion placed at ranked 1st and ‘Increased the no. of restaurants were ranked 6th position with mean value of 4.36 and 3.90 respectively. Similarly, more than half (55.5%) of respondent’s household’s assets were increased. Similarly, ‘agric. land decreased’ ‘intensive agric. Increased’ were ranked 4th and 5th with mean values of 3.06, 2.96 respectively. The results also indicate that, ‘Govt. policies affect cropping patterns’ with mean value of 3.83 were ranked at 1st position and moreover, ’Information from extension (private)’ were placed at ranked 2nd with mean value of 3.57. Market prices affect cropping patterns ranked at 3rd position with mean value of 3.32. Similarly, ‘Change in market demand’ were kept at ranked 4th with mean value of 3.24, and’ Information from extension services (public)’ were placed at ranked 5th with mean value of 3.20