LAHORE, Sept 18: The Punjab government is shortly introducing drip irrigation system in the province bearing 80 per cent of the cost by itself. The rest of the 20 per cent charges would be paid by farmers. The facility would help them meet the expected 10 to 20 per cent water shortage during the coming Rabi season, irrigation minister Amer Sultan Cheema said while talking to delegations of farmers here on Sunday.

He said there had been a marked improvement in the agriculture sector in the province because of the government policies. But the sector still required a lot of steps and attention. Shortage of water and delayed harvesting were the major hurdles in the promotion of agriculture sector in Pakistan, he said.

The minister said starting wheat harvesting by Nov 20 had become nearly a religious ritual in the Indian Punjab. But this was not done in Pakistan, leading to less yield of the crop as compared to the Eastern Punjab.

He said floods were the biggest source of the wastage of irrigation water in the country. It was required to adopt modern irrigation techniques and properly utilize the available water. The drip irrigation scheme would resolve the issue of water shortage to a great extent, he said.

The minister said construction of big dams was the actual solution to the problem of water shortage in Pakistan. “We dumped over 20 MAF water into the sea this season because of the non-availability of storage facilities in the country,” he said.

Mr Cheema said the procedure of agriculture loans had been simplified for farmers and that was why all banks were happily extending loans.

The Punjab Provincial Cooperative Bank had issued Rs3 billion loans to small farmers for the Kharif-2005. The cash loans carried a meagre interest rate of nine per cent.

The bank issued loans worth Rs573 million in Lahore zone, Rs326 million in Gujranwala, Rs66 million in Rawalpindi, Rs198 million in Multan and Rs227 million in Dera Ghazi Khan zones.

The minister said the government had directed all banks to quickly provide loans to farmers as per instructions by it and the State Bank of Pakistan to ensure timely sowing of crops.