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| February 7, 2003 | Friday | Zul Hijjah 5,1423 |
Water shortage serious threat to agriculture
ISLAMABAD Feb 6: Water shortage is posing a serious threat to the sustainability of agriculture sector, warned an expert here on Thursday.
“The alarming thing is that in the previous few years the supply of irrigation water has decreased rapidly, showing a shortage of 41 per cent in the year 2001-02,” said Dr Mohammad Saqib, Assistant Prof, University of Agriculture, Faisalabad.
He was addressing a three-day convention on “Forging Partnerships for Sustainable Development” organised by LEAD Pakistan to provide impetus to action in five key areas of sustainable development outlined by the UN Secretary General at the World Summit on Sustainable Development.
Dr Saqib said the country coped with the increasing demand of food and fibre by expanding land base and technological developments in the past. However, in future this option is not optimistic mainly due to unavailability of water and issues of environmental sustainability.
Deputy Inspector General of Forests Mahmood Nasir said the local breeds of agriculture crops and livestock faced extinction, as no significant project had been launched to conserve them. “While we have hardly been able to understand the threats posed by hybrid breeds, the latest threats to crops are lurking.”
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