Workshop: ‘Govt committed to water security’

South African High Commissioner says agricultural sector was of immense importance as it provided food to the people.

FAISALABAD: Provincial Minister for Mines and Minerals Sher Ali said on Thursday that large reservoirs were necessary to deal with water scarcity in the country. He was speaking at the concluding session of a workshop on Water Management Technologies for the Professionals of Balochistan organised by the Water Management Research Centre (WMRC), University of Agriculture, Faisalabad. Ali said the government was committed to taking all possible steps to deal with water scarcity. He said modern agricultural techniques should be adopted to increase the productivity. “Agriculture is the backbone of Pakistan’s economy contributing 21 per cent to the gross domestic product,” he said. The minister said the need of the hour was to educate the farmers about water scarcity. “Pakistan has been listed among water scarce countries… this is alarming,” he said. South African High Commissioner M Kumalo said the agricultural sector was of immense importance as it provided food to the people.

Published in The Express Tribune, February 21^st, 2014.