HYDERABAD, April 26: Correct planting of crops and an efficient irrigation system can reduce water use by 50 to 70 per cent and overall water consumption by up to 25 per cent.

This was stated by the vice-chancellor of the Sindh Agriculture University, Prof (Dr) Bashir Shaikh, at the certificate awarding ceremony of a training workshop in Setharja town of the Khairpur district on Tuesday.

The vice-chancellor said that water specialists were becoming more and more convinced that we were at present on the threshold of a serious water crisis.

He said that there was water shortage not only in irrigation but also in other uses and it was necessary to develop new water-saving technologies for poverty alleviation.

Prof Shaikh said that a radically different approach was essential.

“We must switch from an indiscriminate use of our natural assets to their conservation and development in harmony with the environment,” he said.

He said that development under the present technological model appear to run counter to environmental conservation.

The world countries including Pakistan for their part can not resign themselves to under-development and poverty for the sake of extremist notions of conservation, he said.

He said that search for a solution led to emergence of a new concept out of the contradiction which although has yet to become a reality, it must govern any future discussion on the exploitation of natural resources and sustainable development.

The vice-chancellor said that the current project of the Sindh Agriculture University would address the problem under indigenous environment.

He praised the role of the HEC under the leadership of Prof Attaur Rehman for funding research projects which may pave way for efficient use of land and water resources for poverty alleviation.

The workshop was organized by the department of irrigation and drainage under a HEC-funded research programme entitled “Efficient Use of Land and Water Resources for Poverty Alleviation”.

Experts that contributed in training included Prof Nisar A. Memon, Prof Hussain Bux Bhutto and Riasat Ali Kubar of the Sindh agriculture university and Prof B.K. Lashari of the Mehran University of Engineering and Technology.

The training workshop was attended by 50 farmers.