Pakistan, an agrarian economy, the agriculture sector of which not only employs majority of the rural population but also contributes around one–fourth to the country’s gross domestic product (GDP), would turn into a water-scarce country within the next five years. “By 2017 Pakistan will turn into a water scarce country,” observed the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) in its report titled “Guidelines for Efficient Agri-Water Management Finacing”.
Declining water per capita
The study has been conducted by a five-member team of the SBP’s Agricultural Credit and Microfinance Department with an aim to develop the agri-sector which is vital both for economic growth and poverty alleviation in the country. The SBP report says Pakistan, which had abundant water in the 1950s with a per capita water availability of more than 5000 m3, would see its per capita water availability depleting to around 1000 m3 by 2017. “The per capita water availability, which is now around 1100 m3, would be around 1000 m3 by 2017,” it noted with concern. If timely steps were not taken for improving efficiencies in agri-water management, the result would be a shortage of 108 Million Acre Feet (MAF) and 151 MAF by 2013 and 2025, respectively, warned the report. “Availability of sufficient water is a growing concern now.”
Shrinking reservoirs
While taking comfort from the fact that the agrarian country has four seasons, a variety of landscapes, fertile land and one of the world’s largest irrigation system that irrigates over 16 million hectares of land out of 34 million hectares of cultivable land available, the SBP report expressed serious concern over the fast shrinking water resources of the country. “More than 50 per cent of agricultural water is wasted during distribution and field application before reaching crop root zone with losses mostly occurring due to seepage, infiltration, leakages, etc,” the study observed. The report cited that seepage was further resulting in water logging and salinity, a key factor in spoiling and impairing existing cultivable agricultural lands. “Underground water, the second largest source of cultivation, is rapidly depleting due to over-drafting, causing the water table to go down,” it said. In addition, lack of knowledge about efficient use of agricultural water resources was also causing loss of soil fertility and per acre yield, the SBP report lamented.
Reducing water wastage
“Climate changes, scarcity of usable canal water availability, wastage of water, and depleting underground water tables are the stumbling blocks in the growth of agriculture in the county,” the central bank study said. “Adoption of modern water management techniques that ensure judicious water utilisation for soil fertility and better yield are required more than ever,” it suggested. The report said techniques like lining of water channels and watercourses, construction of small reservoirs on farms, use of tube-wells, rain water harvesting, and adoption of new technologies could be helpful in streamlining of the existing agricultural water management systems. The SBP report further said the usage of modern high efficiency irrigation systems like drip irrigation and sprinklers would also be of value in coping with future challenges. “The selection of the type of intervention will vary depending on the source of water, type of land, the crop being cultivated, cost-benefit analysis and level of awareness to alternate techniques etc,” it said. Given the ever increasing food needs of its growing population, Pakistan, the SBP report said, is a country with agricultural resources that have the potential for meeting local needs and producing surplus for exports.
