ISLAMABAD: A loan of $340 million will be provided to Pakistan by the International Development Association of the World Bank (WB) to support the Sindh government modernise and rehabilitate irrigation infrastructure.

The loan is being provided to enhance irrigation infrastructure and facilitate a transformation in the management of agricultural infrastructure, water resources and irrigation service delivery.

The Sindh Water and Agriculture Transformation (Swat) project will finance construction of infrastructure on the left bank of the Indus River. Operations under the project will be carried out in irrigated areas of Sindh, that are characterised by flat lands with inadequate land drainage systems. Appraisal of the project will begin in September.

The project is being designed under the realisation that Sindh can get a lot more economic value and simultaneously increase its social and environmental outcomes from water use. Agriculture remains to be the backbone of Sindh and the livelihood of 70pc of the population depends on this sector. Surface canal irrigation dominates the sector due to low average rainfall, poor groundwater quality, and dependence on a singular source of freshwater – the Indus river.

However, low levels of water-use efficiency and productivity have kept crop yields below the province’s potential which has impacted its overall economic growth, while also contributing to low incomes, high food prices, and malnutrition.

Areas around Sindh’s canals are characterised by significant inequities in water access, while over-irrigation and lack of drainage facilities have resulted in high levels of water-logging and salinisation.

The World Bank expects that the Swat project is expected to increase agricultural water productivity in project areas, establish a hydro-agro informatics system to aide decision-making by sector managers and policy makers, and support the adoption of key planning, legislative, and policy reforms that will improve irrigation services, flood and drought management, agricultural research and extension services, and promote integrated water resources management and high-value environmentally sustainable agriculture.

According to a World Bank report, improving water management is a priority for Pakistan and environmental sustainability of agriculture is identified as one of the key pathways to sustain growth, reduce poverty, and achieve shared prosperity. An agricultural smart subsidy programme that focuses on small farmers and provides incentives for adopting water thrifty, high value crops will also be piloted.

Due to limited drainage, secondary salinisation is one of the reasons for land degradation in the province.

Published in Dawn, June 24th, 2021