‘50pc of irrigation water is wasted’

ISLAMABAD: Poor irrigation and lack of infrastructure cause waste of up to 50 percent of irrigation water, said Zeeshan Sohail, manager public affairs at North Nestlé Pakistan on Tuesday.

He said this on a media trip arranged by Nestle Pakistan to a farm in Gujrat to give a briefing on modern drip irrigation methods. He informed that the farm become able to conserve over 70 percent of the water as well as decrease use of fertiliser and pesticides by using modern irrigation techniques.

Pakistan’s agro-economic growth has been constrained by multiple factors, including shrinking arable land, climate change, water shortages, etc. It’s imperative to adopt new and sustainable approaches that are beneficial for farmers, corporate sector and the end consumers.

He informed that they had also developed a low-cost soil moisture sensor that helped farmers to decide when or when not to irrigate their crops.