Substandard watercourses cause 40% wastage

Old methods of cultivation reduce crop productivity.

FAISALABAD: Substandard and old watercourses and canals have caused wastage of 40 per cent of available water every year in Punjab, leading to loss of agricultural productivity, says an official engaged in water management.

Farmers in Punjab were facing multiple difficulties in exploring the real agricultural wealth despite vast land resources and low water supply was among those problems, said Khalid Mahmood, an engineer at the Water Management Department of Faisalabad, while talking to The Express Tribune.

“If the wastage is controlled, agricultural productivity will increase manifold ensuring food security,” Mahmood said, but added lack of resources was a hurdle in the way of improving the watercourses.

In order to give a boost to the agricultural sector, farmers need an awareness drive, bank credit facility as well as advanced technology.

Mahmood said old methods of cultivation and harvesting had brought down per acre yield, which was 35 per cent lower than the productivity in developed countries.

“Increasing prices of inputs virtually leave nothing for farmers to invest in new technology,” said Khaliq Ahmad, a farmer in Faisalabad.

“As storage capacity of dams is decreasing, per-acre water availability is also going down. This forces farmers to install tube wells to irrigate their crops but that increases the cost of production,” said another farmer Tauheed Aslam.

Rana Textile Chief Executive Officer Rana Tauseef said the agricultural sector carried much importance because it provided raw material to industrial units.

Small farmers did not have access to credit to adopt new technology and purchase new varieties of seeds and pesticides, said farmer Muhammad Ajmal. “Agricultural machinery is very expensive, which farmers cannot afford,” he added.

Farmers have long been demanding that the government formulate policies and introduce awareness programmes to resolve their problems.

“Lack of guidance is one of the main reasons for failure to increase productivity,” said an official of the Punjab Irrigation Department Faisalabad.

The irrigation system of Punjab should be improved to forestall any food crisis in the country, he added.

Published in The Express Tribune, November 15^th,  2011.