The World Bank has approved a loan of $187 million to help improve irrigation water management at tertiary and field levels in Sindh. Under the title of Sindh Irrigated Agricultural Productivity Enhancement Project, the project will support efficient management of scarce water resources and is designed to augment adaptation under different climate change scenarios.The bank says that despite extensive irrigation infrastructure, widespread use of chemical fertilizer and pesticides, and availability of hybrid seeds in the market, agriculture productivity is low in Pakistan and especially in Sindh. An estimated 40 to 50 percent of the water — that is delivered through community watercourse networks — is lost due to seepage, spillage, and side leakage from the watercourse banks.According to the bank,flood irrigation is commonly adopted by most farmers in Pakistan and 20 to 25 percent of irrigation water is lost during its field application. The project will help farmers make every drop of water count toward improved yield.The project envisages watercourses improvement, precision land leveling to improve the applications in the field where flood irrigation will remain prevalent and high efficiency irrigation systems – drip irrigation for orchard, vegetables, flowers, other high value row crops.
The bank says that the project has been designed in a way that it would benefit the poorest of the rural society. The direct beneficiaries will be the farmers holding up to 13 acresof land and medium-size farmers having 13-50 acresof land in Sindh engaged in irrigated agriculture.This include around 198,000 farm households cultivating land in the command areas of the watercourses to be improved by the project and around 2,600 farm households supported by the project in high-efficiency irrigation. In addition to it, a large population would also benefit indirectly from the project, such as landless farm labourers for agricultural operations, and temporary and permanent labourers engaged in construction and manufacturing sectors. Expert believe that as a consequence of the increased crop production, agricultural employment is expected to rise by about 16 percent.The credit is financed from the International Development Association with a maturity of 25 years, including a grace period of 5 years. No doubt every government takes loans but the problem is in the implementationlevel. Most of the money obtained for ambitious projects is wasted away due to red tapes in the country. Every loan and every government schemes is welcomed if fully implemented and the desired results are obtained.
