Abstract
Traditional irrigation practices, low crop productivity, unlevelled fields, water losses taking place during conveyance and application phases, as well as low irrigation efficiencies are the main problems of the common farmers in Pakistan. These problems are more noticeable in the command area of Lower Chenab Canal (LCC), which is the main portion of the Indus Basin Project in Pakistan. To overcome these problems, different water management technologies such as precision land levelling (PLL), bed planting, drip irrigation systems, and watercourse improvement were introduced to farmers to increase water savings and crop yields in the area of five distributaries—Khurrianwala, Shahkot, Mungi, Khikhi, Killianwala and Dijkot—during the cropping seasons of 2008 to 2015. The use of drip irrigation resulted in savings of water and fertilizer and increased the crop yields by 30–40%. Three watercourses, one on each site of 1200 m in length, were lined, which resulted in improved conveyance efficiency of 15–20%. If wheat, rice and cotton in the command area of LCC are sown on precisely levelled fields and on beds, then about 2768.1 million m3 and 3699.3 million m3 of irrigation water can be saved. These results show the potential of water-efficient technologies for saving water as well as increasing crop yields.
Highlights
Pakistan is one of the most water-stressed nations, with a per capita water availability of less than 1000 m3
For Rabi season, wheat was the key crop cultivated on a massive area of all five branches of Lower Chenab Canal (LCC), including 161,874 hectares on the Lower Gugera Branch and 283,280 hectares on the Rakh Branch with a total area of 493,716 hectares, while sugarcane was the second largest crop with total area of 117,359 hectares followed by other crops and fodder (Figure 5)
Sugarcane was mainly cultivated in the upper parts of the Lower Gugera Branch with some disperse areas in the Rakh Branch, the Burala Branch, the Jhang Branch and the Upper Gugera Branch
Summary
Pakistan is one of the most water-stressed nations, with a per capita water availability of less than 1000 m3. The current proportion of agriculture towards the GDP of the country is 21%. Irrigated agriculture in the Indus Basin is the major user of water in Pakistan. About 80% of the cultivated area of Pakistan is under irrigation and about 90% of all food is produced from this area [1]. The population growth rate is very high, in developing countries like Pakistan, which has placed the water supply under stress. The food requirements of this ever-increasing population demands higher food production, which will be possible through water-efficient technologies as water is the basic ingredient
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