LAHORE: The Climate-Smart Agriculture (CSA) profile for Punjab launched here on Thursday identifies weak implementation of the agriculture policy and its integration with other policies as one of the hurdles in climate adaptive smart agriculture in the province.

The profile was jointly prepared by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), the International Centre for Tropical Agriculture (CIAT) and Agriculture Delivery Unit, Punjab government.

It points out insufficient information for farmers on local climate conditions and application of appropriate practices, lack of certified heat and drought-tolerant varieties, inefficient use of fertilisers, pesticides and irrigation water that add to production challenges.

Research funding is also a low priority in the country with lack of holistic strategy and direction in setting research priorities, cooperation across provinces and coordination among the many relevant agencies leads to gaps and overlaps in the implementation of policies and programmes focused on agricultural development and CSA adoption.

CSA profile for Punjab points out weak implementation of agri policy

The profile highlights climate smart agriculture strategies that can help mitigate and adapt the farming to extreme weather events in Punjab, while at the same time contribute to increased productivity and food security.

It emphasises agricultural diversification, reducing dependence on cash crops and switching to higher-value nutritious crops. It also points out the urgent need to improve water management strategies, increase irrigation efficiency and reduce water wastage.

Deputy FAO Representative in Pakistan Farrukh Toirov hoped the profile would be instrumental in assessment of provincial policy and institutional environment for CSA, identification of barriers and solutions for province and district-level policy design and implementation, and highlighting financing opportunities for CSA investments at the provincial level.

Addition Secretary Beenish Fatima Sahi appreciated the collaborative effort in the preparation of the profile and highlighted the importance of CSA for agriculture in Punjab.

Pakistan is considered to be one of the most vulnerable to climate change, with serious impacts on agriculture and food security, due to its geographical location – ranking as the 7th country most affected from natural disasters (1996–2005) on the Global Climate Risk Index for 2017.

Agriculture is important to the Punjab economy. It contributes approximately one-quarter of provincial GDP. The province also accounts for two-thirds of the total national agriculture output. The sector employs over 45 per cent of the Punjab labour force and is the main employment source of nearly three-quarter of the female labour force.

The CSA Profile for Punjab is prepared on the lines of CSA country Pakistan launched in Islamabad last year.

Published in Dawn, January 25th, 2019