Asian Development Bank has approved technical assistance for preparing the Punjab Irrigated Agriculture Development Sector Project, which is co-financed by the Japan Special Fund, the government of Netherlands, and the Co-operation Fund for the Water Sector.
The main objective of this project is to improve rural livelihoods and reduce rural poverty through improved irrigation service delivery, enhanced agricultural practices and strengthened water resources and environmental management.
According to official sources, the ADB President, acting under the authority delegated by the Board, has approved that ADB administering a portion of technical assistance not exceeding equivalent of $90,000 to be financed on a grant basis by the Cooperation Fund for the Water Sector.
The ADB also administering a portion of technical assistance of $557,000 to be financed on a grant basis by the government of the Netherlands and ADB providing the balance of $595,000 on a grant basis, to the government of Pakistan for preparing the Punjab Irrigated Agriculture Development Sector Project.
The sources said, total cost of the TA was estimated at $1.55 million, comprising $924,000 in foreign exchange and $628,000 equivalent in local currency.
The government has requested that ADB would finance the entire foreign exchange cost and $318,000 equivalent of the local currency cost. The government would contribute remaining local currency cost equivalent to $310,000.
According to a study report, in Punjab improving the productivity of irrigated agriculture is necessary to stimulate economic growth and reduce rural poverty since 80 percent of Punjab's poor living in rural areas. Agriculture directly employs 40 percent of the population and contributes 28 percent of the total economic output of Punjab.
Punjab lies at the center of the Indus Basin link canal irrigation system and has the greatest irrigated area and largest amount of irrigation assets in Pakistan.
The Punjab Irrigation and Power Department (PIPD) manages vast infrastructure that supports in irrigated area of about 8.5 million hectares, half the area in Pakistan, and uses 95 percent of the water resources.
While development of irrigation and water resources has been key factors to Punjab's growth, serious challenges of infrastructure development, water and environmental management, and irrigation governance must be overcome to help irrigated agriculture and water management achieve their full potential.
IRRIGATION CHALLENGES:
Much of the link canal system was constructed nearly a century ago. The infrastructure has deteriorated, which has been exacerbated by lack of investment and poor maintenance. Irrigation systems are inefficient in water distribution and pose a safety and security risk from failure of large structures.
Management has been plagued by gaps in planning and operations, antiquated management methods and technology, lack of investment in irrigation and PIPD operational capacity, and insufficient monitoring and evaluation (M&E) to assess performance and direct improvements.
A centralised and bureaucratic PIPD has contributed to limited responsiveness, deficient accountability, and inadequate operation and maintenance (O&M) and service delivery.
Farmers have played a marginalised role in the management and O&M of irrigation, and their needs for more flexible water supply for high-value agriculture are not being met.
LOWER BARI DOAB CANAL: The Lower Bari Doab Canal irrigation system in central Punjab exemplifies the challenges, complexities, and opportunities of irrigated agriculture within the link canal system.
LBDC stretches for 200-km, with a command area of about 700,000 hectares that is supplied by the River Ravi and the link canal system. The main barrage was constructed in 1913. The head works and main canal structures of LBDC require urgent rehabilitation, replacement, and upgrading. The distributary and minor canal network has degraded substantially due to inadequate O&M, which disproportionately affects downstream farmers.
PIPD has not been able to effectively govern canal operations. As a result, livestock destroys the canals' shape; influential farmers tamper with the canal; there is patronage in water delivery; and unauthorised structures divert water. Over the last decades, water supply has become more inadequate and unreliable because agriculture within the command area has been intensifying.
The original water allocations were not designed to support irrigation over the full command area.
ENVIRONMENT AND GROUNDWATER: Farmers have responded to the need for more reliable irrigation within Lower Bari Doab Canal through extensive development of private tubewells; however, the relationship between groundwater, canal water, and drainage is complex and poses management challenges and environmental risks.
Groundwater serves as a flexible supply for irrigation during critical growth periods, and tubewell water may account from a third to over half the crop water requirements in some areas. If farmers do not own pumps, most of them purchase tubewell water.
Meanwhile, the groundwater depth, quality and availability are partly a result of canal seepage and traditional flood irrigation. Some areas have brackish water, which if used extensively, results in serious soil productivity decline and eventual ruin. This environmental damage has already occurred in some areas. Farmers are aware of the problem, yet some are forced to pump due to the overwhelming need for water.
Groundwater management is also needed to prevent overdraft. Currently, no regulatory framework, monitoring, or enforcement is in place. Management of drainage, groundwater, surface water, and land resources requires an integrated approach from the farmers' fields to the aquifer.
AGRICULTURE IN PUNJAB AND LOWER BARI DOAB CANAL: Although agricultural production and cropping have intensified, yields have been declining and rural poverty has been increasing in Punjab. In addition to irrigation, water resources, and land management challenges, other factors contribute to low agricultural productivity: the need for improved seeds; sub-optimal use of fertiliser; inadequate plant protection; credit; and limited farmer exposure to improved agricultural practices, farm research, and alternative irrigation methods.
Extension activities by the Punjab department of Agriculture are often inappropriate for local conditions and market opportunities. In many cases, the private sector provides necessary inputs and markets, but linkages with farmers need strengthening.
Crops in Lower Bari Doab Canal are still dominated by lower value cotton, wheat, maize, and fodder.
Lower Bari Doab Canal, like much of Punjab, has excellent potential and some farmers are successfully engaged in higher value agriculture comprising fruits, vegetables, floriculture, livestock, and dairy.
An important objective for irrigated agriculture in Punjab is to support a shift to higher value crops, which requires improved agricultural assistance to farmers.
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