Balochistan records 23% agricultural growth ‘due to water management’

FAISALABAD:

Balochistan recorded a 23% agricultural growth last year due to the water management training workshops conducted by the University of Agriculture Faisalabad (UAF). 

UAF Vice Chancellor Prof Iqrar Ahmad said this while addressing the 30 Baloch participants of a 10-day training workshop on On-farm Water Management at the New Senate Hall here on Monday.

The UAF has conducted two similar programmes for the agriculture officers of Balochistan in the last two years.

The workshop is being conduced under the Balochistan Agricultural Project funded by the USAID. The project covers eight districts of Balochistan.
Dr Iqrar said Balochistan would could grow food not only for Pakistan but also for the entire population of Central Asia in the years to come.

He said four agro ecological zones had been set up and conducive environment was enabling farmers in Balochistan to make more investment in fruits and vegetables. He said the UAF had launched a water resources engineering programme to address the problems being faced in Balochistan.

He stressed the need for overhauling the farming system, saying that there had been a drastic climatic change in the recent past.

He said the UAF was making efforts to promote oilseed cultivation as it was the second biggest import into the country after petroleum. “If we cultivate oilseed on only 1 million acres, we can make the country self-sufficient in this sphere,” he said.

He warned that in the coming years, the country would suffer a drastic shortfall of water that would hamper agricultural growth. He said water meant for irrigation and domestic use should be utilised prudently.

FAO-USAID Water Resource Management National Expert Ijaz Hussain Awan said: “We have made groups to collectively address the water issues by prioritising, identifying and addressing the problems being faced in Pakistan.” He said that cultivation in Balochistan was the toughest job as there was very little canal water.

Faculty of Agricultural Engineering and Technology Dean and Water Management Research Centre (WMRC) Director Prof Rai Niaz Ahmad said a team of young professionals had earned global recognition through the workshops conducted by the UAF.

He said the WMRC was working on four projects with Australia, Japan, USAID and Rice Wheat International Consortium.

Published in The Express Tribune, October 2^nd, 2012.