Punjab encouraging drip and sprinkler irrigation

LAHORE: Punjab Agriculture Secretary Wasif Khurshid has said that the provincial government is encouraging the system of drip and sprinkler irrigation under the ongoing Punjab Irrigated-Agriculture Productivity Improvement Project (PIPIP) in its attempt to conserve water.



Under this project, the agriculture department is installing the system via subsidy. The drip irrigation system is suitable for crop cultivation when irrigation water or rainwater is insufficient for conventional farming. This technology, so far, has been adopted by several farmers across Punjab owing to acute shortage of river water and limited amount of rainfall.



The secretary said that keeping in view its high efficiency in conserving water, increasing per-acre yield and reducing cost of cultivation, there is a need to create awareness among farmers about the drip irrigation system.

“With this technology, farmers can save 60% electricity and diesel costs, augmenting per-acre yield by 100%,” he said.

Published in The Express Tribune, August 30^th, 2018.

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