‘Drip irrigation another option to end water scarcity’

LAHORE: Next century war will be fought over water, not oil. So there is a need to take measures for addressing the problem of water shortage. Drip irrigation system is suitable for crop cultivation when irrigation water or rainwater is not enough for conventional farming.

A spokesman for Agriculture Department said Sunday that the Punjab government is encouraging drip irrigation to overcome scarcity of water. He said the next century war will be fought over water, not over oil. So there is a need to take measures for addressing the problem of water shortage. Drip irrigation system is suitable for crop cultivation when irrigation water or rainwater is not enough for conventional farming. This technology, so far, has been adopted by many farmers across Punjab owing to acute shortage of river water and limited rains. Keeping in view its high efficiency in conserving water, increasing per acre yield and reducing cost of cultivation, there is a need to create awareness among farmers about the drip irrigation system. With this technology, the farmers could save 60 percent electricity and diesel costs augmenting per acre yield by 100 percent. The government is helping farmers in adopting this system by providing drip irrigation equipment at subsidised rates and providing 60 percent subsidy on installation of drip irrigation system. There is 40 to 50 percent saving of fertilizer if drip irrigation system is used. Currently, the system is used for small scale cultivation e.g 12.5 acre of land. However, other techniques and methods are underway to extend the programme for large scale cultivation. Drip irrigation technology is being provided to farmers by the government on subsidised cost with financial assistance from the World Bank. The spokesman further said that it was the need of the time to move towards modern resource conservation technologies such as drip irrigation to cope with the situation of water scarcity in the upcoming years.

'DOPC resolving expats' issues': Overseas Pakistanis Commission (OPC), Punjab, Commissioner Afzaal Bhatti and Vice-Chairperson Shaheen Khalid Butt have said that District Overseas Pakistanis Committee (DOPC), Lahore is playing pivotal role in resolving the issues faced by expatriates. They expressed these views while presiding over a meeting of DOPC, Lahore. CCPO Lahore Captain (R) Amin Wains, OPC DG, Syed Javed Iqbal Bokhari, Additional DG Agha Yousaf, Director Asad Naeem, Coordinator Haji Muhammad Nawaz, Public Facilitation Committee Chairman Sajid Ch, SPs and ACs of Lahore District attended the meeting. During the meeting, it was decided that SPs and ACs would listen to the complaints of Overseas Pakistanis twice a week so that maximum number of complaints of expatriates could be redressed. Shaheen Khalid Butt and Afzaal Bhatti said that due to the efforts of members of DOPC Lahore, complaints of a large number of Overseas Pakistanis have been redressed amicably. It is pleasing that DOPC Lahore holds two meetings in a week to redress the issues of Overseas Pakistanis and Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) are followed to provide maximum relief to expatriates. They said that keeping in view the significance of the provincial metropolis, the role of DOPC Lahore is of great importance and by active participation of DOPC, complaints of overseas Pakistanis can be resolved easily. They instructed that proceedings regarding redress the complaints be intimated to OPC head office timely and implementation of the decisions of DOPC be ensured.