New irrigation project ready for launch

ISLAMABAD: Federal Minister for Food and Agriculture, Nazar Muhammad Gondal has announced that after many discussions to address the reservations raised by provinces, the project “Water Conservation & Productivity Enhancement through High Efficiency Irrigation System” is set to start functioning this month.

Chairing a meeting on the project on Friday, the minister said that Pakistan has no option but to adopt latest irrigation systems and conserve water.

“The project is important and must be effectively implemented to protect the agriculture sector of the country. A team of experts will visit Gilgit-Baltistan (GB),” said the minister.

He clarified that FATA and GB would be exempted from chipping in towards the project and their share would be contributed by the federal government.

As requested, the implementation of the project has been entrusted to the provinces while Pakistan Agriculture Research Council will be responsible for establishing an effective monitoring system. Under the new project farmers will be paid Rs10,000 per acre for the construction of water storage tanks while the maximum limit of subsidy is fixed at Rs3 million per farmer. PPI

Published in The Express Tribune, July 3^rd, 2010.