Advanced tech introduced to boost water efficiency, sustainable farming

PESHAWAR: The International Water Management Institute (IWMI), a leading global research-for-development organisation, has introduced advanced scientific equipment in two districts of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) to improve crop water usage, reduce carbon emissions and promote agricultural sustainability.

The initiative centers around the deployment of the Eddy Covariance (EC) Flux Tower, a sophisticated monitoring system that would provide precise data on water and energy fluxes, offering crucial insights into the interaction between farming practices and environmental factors. Dr Umar Waqas Liaqat, IWMI’s Irrigation Researcher, said that his institute had already introduced the technology in four districts of Punjab, including Chakwal, Okhara, Rahimyar Khan, and Faisalabad.

The initiative is part of the IWMI’s Water Resource Accountability Programme (WRAP), which was launched with support from the UK’s Foreign Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) and CGIAR’s Nexus Gains Initiative. The programme aims to assist the KP government in addressing critical water governance and management challenges.

“Currently, the EC systems in Punjab are monitoring over 70 variables, including vital water, carbon, and energy fluxes across key agricultural zones, providing essential data for sustainable, data-driven agricultural solutions,” Dr Umar added.This technology will now be replicated in KP’s Charsadda and Mansehra districts. Charsadda relies on irrigated agriculture, while agriculture in Mansehra depends primarily on rainfall.

The EC Flux Tower, the only one of its kind in South Asia, continuously measures the exchange of gases and energy between the land surface and the atmosphere. Equipped with advanced sensors like CO2 and H2O analyzers and net radiometers, it provides real-time data on water usage (evapotranspiration), energy consumption, and carbon emissions from crops within a 200-500-meter radius. The tower also tracks crucial climatic parameters, including air temperature and humidity, playing a key role in drought monitoring, water conservation and enhancing precision farming.

“This system is pivotal for ecological and environmental research, especially in ecosystems such as forests, grasslands, wetlands, and agricultural fields,” Dr Umar explained.