CHITRAL: Experts have said that drip irrigation system is suitable for Chitral as the area faces acute shortage of irrigation water due to its mountainous topography and scanty rainfall.

On the occasion of field day for farmers observed by On Farm Water Management (OFWM) department under Irrigated Agriculture Improvement Project of Khyber Pakhtunkwa, different techniques and means for saving each and every drop of irrigation water from wastage were discussed at length.

The district officer, Amir Hussain, and engineer Fazal Hussain of the department said that presently about 90 per cent of irrigation water wasted in the course of flow from the head to the tail end. Without stopping wastage of water, no prosperity could be possible through agriculture sector, they added.

They said that adopting efficient irrigation methods was need of the hour as availability of water for irrigation was on decrease in hilly areas like Chitral. They said that drip irrigation system could be best used both in the plain and sloped farms for cultivation of cereal crops, vegetables and raising fruit orchards as well as plantation in the hills and plateaus.

Introducing water efficient tool through the irrigation channel, they named the precast concrete parabolic segment (PCPS) as the best tool that had many advantages over the prevalent system of lining of the channels.

The experts said that PCPS had already been introduced in some villages of the district and proved successful that also tested a number of natural disasters due to their specific structures and material.

“The department of OFWM is there to provide technical and material support to famers in adaptation of water efficient technology which bears 60 per cent of the total cost,” they said.

Maulana Khuda Rahmat, a farmer from Seen Lasht village, on the occasion shared his success story with the participants about PCPS system, which he had installed in his village.

The director of agricultural research station, Dr Abdur Rauf, said that the soil of Chitral was fertile and had the capacity of high yield in fruits and cereal crops but lying on the arid zone, it faced shortage of irrigation water.

He urged farmers to switch to HEIS, which was the only option to fight the shortage of water.

Published in Dawn, October 6th, 2023