MITHI: A two-day moot concluded on Sunday with a note and resolve that the practice of biosaline agriculture with application of modern irrigation methods has a great potential to turn Thar from a charity-recipient region into a food-exporting one.

The two-day conference and exhibition on the “Blooming Thar: Transforming Biosaline Agriculture in Tharparkar” also recommended that use of efficient irrigation system should be made mandatory in all government and non-government sector schemes with all inputs declared tax free and subsidised.

Speakers from across the desert district attending the event said that eradicating poverty and eliminating drought from the region of Thar within a short span of time was possible through launching of biosaline agriculture at a massive scale. Speakers included practicing bio saline agriculture farmers and stakeholders working in the area.

Addressing the concluding ceremony, Mirpukhas region Commissioner Abdul Waheed Shaikh was of the view that the government of Sindh was ready to mobilise its resources to implement biosaline agriculture in Thar. “The exhibition and conference are a piece of evidence that they want to promote the concept and will assist stakeholders and communities for the good.”

He said the moot had concluded that addressing drought-related challenges in Thar was no more an impossible task and now farmers should come forward and adopt the practice. Tharparkar Deputy Commissioner Asif Jamil Shaikh said that no scheme and programme were termed successful unless communities were fully involved from the planning to the execution phase. He said that such events would greatly help both government functionaries, farmers and common villagers boost the agriculture sector in Thar region.

Mohsin Babbar of the Thar Foundation said Thar had a great potential to not only feed its populace, but produce food-related crops for the rest of Sindh.

The conference recommended that a comprehensive study on quality and quantity of groundwater should be initiated forthwith to determine the scale and develop an evidence-based way forward. He said his organisation was fully committed to help Tharis in their efforts to bring stability in their economies by adopting the modern methods in the light of the views of experts during the historic event.

Participants of the moot also recommended for establishing and notifying a steering committee which should further develop the modalities and on-ground solutions. The committee should consist of representatives from government, non-government organisations, academia and firms working in Tharparkar on coal mining and power generation.

The Sindh agriculture department was urged to fund a pilot project on a larger scale in which at least 100 cooperatives farming projects might be introduced with a joint execution mechanism for certain productive results.

The federal and provincial governments were urged to make all agriculture inputs like solar energy and efficient irrigation systems tax free.

Water experts including Mustafa Ujjan, Shabir Bhurt and Irshad Ansari and many Thari farmers spoke at the ceremony.

A large number of people turned up to visit the exhibition, a feature of the mega event, where 30 stalls were set up by relevant organisations.

Published in Dawn, April 15th, 2019