Saline water irrigation in Thar and other desertareas where salt water lakes are present can turn our deserts into grainbasket and the Special Investment Facilitation Council (SIFC) shoulddivert its sharp focus to this area, said Pasban Democratic Party (PDP)Chairman Altaf Shakoor here Sunday.He said that many countries in the world successfully use saline waterto grow crops with salt-tolerant seed varieties.
He said as per mediareports in Pakistan a wheat research institute had successfully produceda salt-tolerant wheat seed, but for the reasons known to policymakersthis ambitious project was silently put on the back burner instead ofpractical implication. It is also said that the Sindh government hadimported salt-tolerant seed varieties of different crops in the past,but then nobody knew about their fate.
He said in the Thar Desert there is Shakoor Lake, besides many othersmall salt water lakes in Achro Thar whose water could be used in salinewater agriculture. These areas have very hot weather which could alsoproduce huge solar energy, thus meeting all needs of salt water farmingon a sustainable local basis.All that is needed is just proper government focus, and neededinvestment preferably from the private sector.
He said here comes therole of the SIFC to invite interested investors to this untappedlucrative business of saline water farming in Pakistan. He said the previous research about developing saline water resistantseeds in Pakistan should be unfrozen and agricultural universities andinstitutions in Pakistan should be asked to develop new seed varietiesof wheat, paddy, olive and other crops in Pakistan to utilize our barrendesert and coastal areas for farming where seawater or saline waterlakes are present.
He asked the governments of Sindh, Punjab, Balochistan and otherconcerned quarters to play their due role in promoting saline waterfarming, adding; however, the main role should be played by the SIFC toexplore and tap this highly lucrative agricultural sector.He said the saline water lakes could also be used for fisheries andtheir water after desalination with the help of solar energy could alsobe used for human consumption and other purposes.He said if the SIFC divert its attention to this field we can use ourvast coastline and deserts for making the country self-sufficient infood. This would not only bring down very high food inflation in thecountry but also provide much needed food security to the nation.
