Water logging, salinity threaten sustainable agriculture

HYDERABAD: Agriculture economists on Wednesday said that to address the problem of water logging and salinity, groundwater recharge and drainage below the recharge levels were needed for sustainable agriculture production.

The experts were discussing the current status of crop production and losses on the second day of the first International Conference on Social Sciences and Information Communication Technology (ICSSICT-2018) at Sindh Agriculture University (SAU), Tandojam.

The conference ended on the note that the agriculture sector was facing various challenges every passing day, and only research could identify the problems and suggest solutions, while gaps in the policy mechanism needed to be bridged.

SAU Economics Department Chairperson Professor Ambreen Zeb Khaskhaly in her presentation pointed out that water logging was a major issue, especially after the construction of some 17 barrages on the River Indus. Approximately 20 to 30 percent of crop, in terms of fields and area, are lost due to salinisation along with water logging problems.

“It is largely caused by salts, flowing into the river system. Besides this, seepage from river and canals also provides a supplementary source for water logging and salinity,” she said. “Water scarcity, salinity and water logging, and soil fertility have adversely affected cultivation patterns, cropping intensity, cropping output and crop incomes earned by farmers.”

Quoting surveys, Professor Ambreen said crop production along the Left Bank Outfall Drainage (LBOD) area was badly affected by these factors. “For example, the average yield of rice is about 38 percent less to that of the province as a whole. Similarly, the yields of wheat and cotton are about 34-35 percent below the provincial averages.” She pointed out that lack of proper drainage was also contributing to water logging and salinity, combined with low rainfall, and minimum recharge.

It was recommended that horizontal flow of river must be controlled through constructing drainage facilities. At initial level, watercourse lining was suggested to avoid water losses.

Mustafa Kan from Turkey's Department of Agricultural Economics, Achi Evran University in his presentation ‘A rural development tool; geographical indications’ said that despite of industrial agriculture, created by large scale agricultural enterprises, agricultural producers in developing economies were forced into making more product differentiation to survive, compete and win.

As part of a comprehensive strategy to ensure product diversification and to increase opportunities for higher prices in the international arena, he said geographical indications appear to be a promising strategy for increasing the value of local products.

He said geographical indications were quality indications that guarantee the source of product, the characteristics of the product, and the link between the product and the geographical area for the consumers.

SAU Agriculture Economics Department Researcher Azeem Shahzad Kumbhar in his presentation focused on production of rice, wheat, maize, sorghum and other food crops and found the decline in per acre yield due to various factors, mainly climate change.

To avoid forthcoming food conflicts in the country, he suggested the government to introduce new technology, ensure efficient use of irrigation water and agriculture credit provision. The study was based on 20 years data on the country's population, food availability, and crops to assess the magnitude of the growth rate.

Ghulam Hussain Wagan from Habib Bank Ltd talked on credit mechanism for farmers and identified the constraints in the process. He said it was observed that farmers were reluctant to approach financial institutions for agriculture credit.

“Majority of them do not receive credit they required for their crops because of the lengthy and difficult process,” he said, and added that lacking documentation with farmers was also a problem in the process for applying for credit.

The day-long sessions attracted a large number of graduates, researchers, agriculture scientists, farmers and livestock management practitioners.