ISLAMABAD, Sept 27: Pakistan is facing a 34 per cent deficit of irrigation water ahead of the Rabi season which is to start next month, affecting sugarcane and wheat crops, according to the advisory committee of the Indus River System Authority which met here on Saturday.

Sources in the Ministry of Food and Agriculture told Dawn that the earlier assessment about sugarcane crop yield had been reduced by about 20 per cent, from 63 million tons to 52 million tons because of the projected shortages.

The wheat sowing area is also likely to shrink by 15 to 20 per cent, they added

The sources said that the cultivation area would further be reduced, especially in Sindh, if the wheat support price was not announced soon.

According to the advisory committee’s assessment, which was based on the recommendations of the technical committee, the country would have 24.58 million acre feet of water available for Rabi crops against the average requirement of around 35 million acre feet.

The meeting was presided over by Irsa chairman Bashir Dahr and attended by the authority’s members and secretaries of irrigation and power departments of the four provinces. Representatives of Wapda and the Meteorological department also gave their inputs.