Agriculture and water experts as well as progressive farmers and social reformers have emphasized the need of taking initiatives for water conservation in the lower areas of Sindh. They also emphasized the need of promoting urban and vertical agriculture and urged to utilize drip irrigation for agriculture harvesting in 50 percent uncultivated agricultural land of the province.
They emphasized this while addressing a consultation seminar titled “Food-Water Nexus: Connecting the Dots” hosted by Sindh Agriculture University (SAU) in collaboration with Research and Development Foundation (RDF) and Welthungerhilfe (WHH) at Senate Hall on Thursday. Vice Chancellor Sindh Agriculture University Dr. Fateh Marri while addressing the participants said that there had been no significant development in agricultural production for the past thirty years and it was the need to promote technologies related to urban agriculture and more efficient use of water.
Due to the growing population and the possible shortage of water, he said modern agricultural technology must be accessible to the common farmer. Syed Nadeem Shah, a progressive farmer and the leader of the Sindh Abadgar Board said that vertical planting and food preservation were being practiced in the world even in developed countries. In China, he informed that everyone was growing vegetables for their needs in their homes. He expressed concern that the green lands are being converted into colonies.
Dr. Altaf Siyal, Dean of the Faculty of Agricultural Engineering informed that in Sindh, 1300 liters of water was used for the production of one kilogram of wheat and 2500 liters for paddy. The farmers are reluctant to accept the drip irrigation system yet, he said and added that water was being degraded by putting dirty and polluted drainage water into the river Indus.
