24 May 2004	Monday	04 Rabi-us-Saani 1425

ISLAMABAD, May 23: The Pakistan Agricultural Research Council (PARC) has launched a Rs2 million drought mitigation project in Rod Kohi area, Balochistan.

According to the PARC spokesman, the project was initiated in the backdrop of the present situation of the food and fibre. It would improve the potential of the Rod Kohi irrigation system to a considerable extent, he added.

About the initiation of the project, the official said Rod Kohi irrigation system constituted major portion of the country's Dry Land Farming System in all the four provinces. The farmers of this ecology are presently contributing towards the national economy in terms of wheat, pluses, grain, low-value fodder crops and livestock. However, their contribution level is quite low, he added.

The spokesman said major factors behind this low contribution was complex natural system. He said it had been estimated that the water potential in the area was about 18.75 million acre feet, while some 18 million acre land had the potential to be developed.

The major part of this typical farming system was in Balochistan province, particularly in Kachi plain. The water potential there was almost twice than the current total storage capacity of Mangla and Turbela reservoirs, therefore, this issue needed special attention, he added.

The spokesman said in January 1995, the PARC had launched a project with the financial support of the ministry of food and agriculture to address the issues of these remote areas.

Pilot sites were identified in all the four provinces including Dera Ghazi Khan, Dera Ismail Khan, Zhob, and research-cum-development activities were initiated, he added. He said the prime objective of the project was to design cost-effective, but sustainable technologies for the productivity enhancement of the pilot sites.