LAHORE:Pakistan Businesses Forum (PBF) Vice President Jahanara Wattoo has said that the community-based organisations must be contacted to create awareness among farmers about the phenomenon of climate change and the importance of water.
According to a press release issued here on Monday, she said that changing climate had threatened the productivity of the agriculture sector, making it vulnerable economically, socially and in cultural perspective.
Crop simulation model-based studies by Inter-Governmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) depicted that there were significant reductions in wheat, rice and maize yields in the arid, semi-arid and rain-fed areas of Pakistan under various scenarios by the mid and end of the century, she added.
She said that Pakistan had significant variations in rainfall and temperature; therefore, its agriculture was relying heavily on river supplies. She said that climate shift had squeezed the monsoon pattern to two months with heavy to very heavy rains, thus leading to more incidents of floods as witnessed this mid-year, which to significant erosion of soil, inundation and medium to high floods in canal-irrigated areas and flash floods in hilly areas.
The PBF vice president said that other issues of the crop sector include inadequate mapping of soil health for each agro-ecological zone for promotion of climate-smart to eco-friendly crops. There were insufficient farm community storages and availability of climate-smart on-farm water management technologies, she added.
Jahanara Wattoo said that Climate Smart Agriculture (CSA) was an integrated approach to develop technical, policy and investment conditions to achieve sustainable agriculture development for food security under climate change by adopting and building resilience and reducing carbon emissions.
However, through community participation initiatives including federal and provincial governments collaboration to improve application of balanced nutrition, especially potash application, pest scouting, promotion of mechanization, introduction of short-duration varieties, stress management against heat and drought, fortification of crops through breeding and continuous review of production plans by learning through best practices, she added.
National Agriculture Emergency Plan for Wheat, Sugarcane, Rice and Oilseed crops and special programs for revival/promotion of cotton crops and pulses were initiated through input-based incentives on the use of certified seeds, micro-nutrients, agriculture machinery with the use of all extension tools to maximize productivity and profitability.
Special projects for certification of fruit plants to promote climate-resilient germplasm had also been introduced and more than 300 nurseries had been registered so far. The PBF vice president said that the efforts of the Punjab government had resulted in improvement in agriculture productivity in vulnerable areas like Thal and Pothohar through Command Area Development. By constructing small dams, farm ponds, lined water courses, dug-wells, enhancing farmers’ capacity and laser land leveling, the cultivated area had been enhanced; therefore, leading to an increase in yield by 20-25pc. In another project, climate-friendly technological interventions like the provision of certified fruit plants, drip and sprinkler irrigation systems, tunnel technology and renewable energy inputs (solar system) were provided to develop horticulture in the Potohar region. The development of Olive Valley was its prime example.
However, in spite of the above efforts, there were many institutional constraints and still, a lot of work was needed to be done for farmers of those agroecological zones that were under the continuous threat of climatic vagaries.
The PBF official recommended that the CSA practices, that focus on chronic agriculture efficiency challenges, might be adopted. These practices include integrated pest management strategies, water management strategies, improved selection of seeds, climate-resilient crop varieties, renewable energy technologies and manure management technologies.
The use of laser land leveling technologies, zero tillage agriculture, raised bed planting and alternative wet and drying strategies for rice paddies shall help farmers to cope with intense climate challenges such as floods and drought while improving their agricultural productivity.
She said that better social, physical and small & medium enterprises infrastructure in rural areas would reduce the pressure on urban centers by reducing the migration from rural to urban areas to avoid the phenomenon of “heat islands”.