Sustainable Water Solutions for Agriculture in Pakistan: An Overview
Sustainable Water Solutions for Agriculture in Pakistan: An Overview
Mujahid Ali1*, Malik Muhammad Akram2, Emily Silverman3, Asif Iqbal1, Muhammad Mohsan1, Haseeb Ahsan4
ABSTRACT
Pakistan’s water resources primarily depend on the Indus River system, making it highly vulnerable to fluctuations in river flows and climatic changes. This unsustainable water usage in agriculture not only exacerbates the water crisis but also hampers agricultural productivity and food security. Agriculture accounts for 24% of the GDP while more than 90% of water consumed in Pakistan is utilized for agriculture. Pakistani has one of the best canal systems in the world and irrigation is the most water-consuming division of the country. More than 80% of the agricultural water is partitioned into wheat, cotton, maize, sugarcane, and rice. Seepage from rivers/canals, mismanagement, unequal distribution, pollution, and salinization are major contributing factors to the water crisis. Climatic conditions, global warming, and lack of rainfall are worsening agricultural losses in this arid environment. More awareness is needed in the farming community to focus on water-saving strategies, water budgeting, and using monitoring software to evaluate areas to conserve water. Government policies to equally distribute irrigation water would solve and save the country from this impending crisis. There is a need to improve storage capacity by building dams, reservoirs, and water retention ponds to help capture all available water that falls on the land. The country requires hydrogeological surveys, applied water management research for identification, evaluation, pilot testing, and demonstration of water management interventions, and practical training of stakeholders for successful pilot testing of new technologies, and sustainable practices. There is an urgent need to educate the public and develop infrastructure for better water management because of the increasing water insecurity in agriculture, low water productivity, and emerging climate issues.
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