WHILE water shortage should be giving farmers sleepless nights and one presumes planners of water and agriculture sectors would be concerned about it, no one seems to be looking at the grimmer and far more devastating scenario in the making: the methods used for countering the current water scarcity are posing a serious threat to sustainability of agriculture.

The situation in Punjab is particularly acute as farmers are heavily relying on ground water to fill the gap created by shortage of irrigation resources. This is their answer to the restricted supply of fresh water. Their approach is not to be questioned as growing crops is a matter of life and death for them; it is their survival.

But this solution is bound to deliver hardship on farmers in the long run. Many agriculture fields of Punjab could in fact be laid waste in the foreseeable future. Excessive use of brackish ground water would cause sodicity and subject the land to infertility—- inevitable outcome when land is afflicted with ‘kala kakkar’ or black alkali.

The crust of the land would be hardened by abnormal increase of sodium in the soil. Productivity would stagnate in the early stage and substantially scuttle if the problem is allowed to persist. The present situation suggests that it would not just persist but would become more intense if the pumping of ground water continues. Considering that Punjab farmers have no other means for obtaining water for crops, one does not see a way out of the problem.

There is another by-product of the practice. Offsetting water shortage by pumping ground water means a lowering of the water table. It has already sunk to frightening levels in some parts of the province. More pumping of water would push the aquifer into the danger zone.

It has already hit that level in some areas. Shahpur, a small rural habitat near Lahore at a distance of about two miles from river Ravi, has maintained an average of 40 feet for some time. It goes down by another ten feet in April; this happens all over, not just in Shahpur.

The city of Lahore has a 50 feet deep water table but in areas where the exploitation of ground water is heavy, it touches 70 ft. Hasilpur, among other parts of southern Punjab has water table standing at about 60 ft. In a manner of speaking, drought conditions have arrested further deepening of the water table. But this is nothing to be pleased about because shortage of water may be blessing to the extent of improving water table level but otherwise, all of its established implications are negative and undermine agriculture to no end.

Sustainability: The immediate, extremely serious problem is exploiting ground water for meeting water shortage. A total of about 650,000 tube wells are installed, approximately 89- 90 per cent of them in Punjab. In view of the restricted supply of water, more and more farmers are resorting to this practice.

According to experts, at least 70 per cent of all tube wells are extracting brackish water. The percentage is higher in some regions of the province. The percentage of sodium varies but it is usually around 80 per cent. Regular use of this water undermines quality of soil, increasingly arrests plant growth and causes barrenness. The crust of soil is hardened and its pores are closed. As a result, water doesn’t go down. That is a threat to the sustainability of soil and custom-made arrangement for the ruination of the farming sector.

Wheat should survive for a while because it is a salt- tolerant crop and is not hurt by brackish water but yield would be proportionately reduced to increase in quantum of sodicity. Productivity woes are certain to visit fields as a result. This is a serious matter. However, what should seriously worry farmers and planners is the long-term effect using brackish water on soil quality. Farmers, working under the pressure of survival, must go on cultivating crops, or go on trying to do that regardless of adverse factors.

They have no options and appear to be like the bulls harnessed to the plough to till land. But, over the years, animal has been replaced by technology, the bull exchanged for tractor. In actual fact, farmers have been cast in bulls role, forced to move in circles with eyes covered. They have no option but to go on moving in the vicious circle.

The responsibility lies with planners but they are either indecisive or, one hopes not, incapable of resolving a problem that can spell permanent disaster for Pakistan’s agriculture- based economy. Is there a way out? There is, but no short cuts like the ones the government is exploring. What is being attempted is a waste of resources.

With Mangla and Tarbela reservoirs losing their storage capacity because of sedimentation, Pakistan has become wholly dependent on rains. Weather has not been sympathetic to the country for some years. Even the shrunken capacity of reservoirs is not filled and the aquifer is not recharged. The sum total is more shortage of water and quickened pace of the country’s journey towards famine conditions.

One would not like to think wisdom and expertise, like water, are in short supply and sedimentation has struck planners. The suggestions made and plans formulated for resolving the issue are an exercise in self-deception. Construction of small dams has been proposed. They would not add up to any thing even if the government succeeds in translating what are eminently impractical propositions.

Some small areas would be irrigated. Some small, almost irrelevant gains would be made. But needs are massive. The population has been multiplying. The country’s food requirements are mounting. The people who think that a few small dams to store rain or flood water— currently neither is available, would enable the country to attain food security must be living in a private world, in a paradise of their own.

Not all farmers comprehend the implications of the current water shortage situation. Knowledgeable officials may not have a say in vital decision-making. The overall authorities seem to lack will, if not insight, to save land from degradation and stop the flow of water in the sea which is also sinking Pakistan’s economy in the sea.