Clearing a path for the growth of agricultural economy

Published on February 21, 2013 10:09 by Water Network Research, Official research team of The Water Network in Government

Agriculture is the main source of income for most Pakistanis. Around 70% of the local population resides in rural and remote hinterlands, where they mostly earn their livelihood from different agriculture-related activities.

The agriculture sector is dependent on water, which is mostly supplied through a complex network of small and large canals. Pakistan has the distinction of having the largest contiguous gravity flow irrigation system in the world. The irrigation system serves as a lifeline for sustainable agriculture in this part of the world, which has an arid to semi-arid climate. Irrigated lands contribute more than 90% to total agriculture production, which accounts for 22% of the GDP and the employment of 54% of the labour force.

Punjab's vast irrigation system is controlled through a well-designed network of 14 barrages constructed on the Indus River and its tributaries at Jhelum, Chenab, Ravi and Sutlej. These rivers carry a substantial quantity of silt-load, which is deposited in the distributaries and minors where the velocity of flow is comparatively low. Canals supply water to the tail-portions of these distributaries and minors, where the speed of water flow is lowest; therefore, farmers located at the tail-reaches suffer serious shortages of canal-water because of heavy siltation problems which leads to unrest.

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