Lahore: The Punjab government on Wednesday announced that it would implement a project to conserve water for agriculture, a news source reported. To this effect, Provincial Minister for Agriculture Malik Nauman Ahmad Langrial revealed that a plan was underway to preserve the resource under the Prime Minister (PM)’s Agricultural Emergency Programme at a cost of PKR 28.59 billion.
Chairing a review meeting of the ongoing activities of water management, the minister said that Pakistan was among countries where ‘saving every drop of water’ had a lot of significance. He highlighted that out of the water available in the country, 93% was used for agricultural purposes and the remaining 7% for daily use. He added that there was a need for an awareness campaign pertaining to water conservation.
During the meeting, Agriculture Water Management Director General (DG) Malik Muhammad Akram stated that Punjab required 90 million acres feet (MAF) of water for crop cultivation every year. He added that annual water losses amounted to 37 MAF so the provincial government obtained 65 MAF of water annually for crops.
Akram revealed that the Punjab government was providing all possible facilities to farmers pertaining to the efficient use of water. He added that farmers could contact local officer of water management to utilise these facilities. Issuing instructions on the provision of better facilities to farmers, he also asked the public to focus on efficient use of water and its conservation.
