The situation is alarming and needs strenuous efforts of agriculture scientists to introduce innovative technologies to overcome water shortage and save the country from food crisis.

Technologies together with capabilities to conserve water and bring change in conventional irrigation and plantation tools are the need of the hour for agriculture sector to attain autarky in food.

Realising the importance of water conservation, the Faisalabad University of Agriculture has taken initiatives for introducing technologies to minimise water consumption and stop its wastage. The Water Management Research Centre (WMRC) has developed a bed planter for cultivation of major crops like wheat, cotton, rice, maize and vegetables.

Dr Rai Niaz Ahmed, WMRC director, speaking about the need of water in agriculture sector said “it is essential for sustenance of all forms of life.

“The rapid increase in demand for water for domestic, industrial and agricultural use is a global issue. The entire world is today faced with water scarcity and Pakistan is no exception. The problem is more critical for developing countries than the developed nations.”

To face the challenge of water shortage, he said, the university had developed a bed planter to conserve water wasted in the agriculture sector.

The technology has successfully been tested at various places including farms of progressive farmers through cultivation of wheat, rice, cotton, maize and vegetables and it has proved efficacious, saving 40-50 per cent of water.

The farmers now need to be motivated to use this technology shunning the old traditional method of irrigation, plantation and use of fertiliser.

The bed planter has the ability to apply fertiliser together with sowing seeds directly on the beds. This will avoid extra need of fertiliser application in furrows and ensure efficient seed nutrition in the bed.

Raised-bed technology together with bed planter has proved to be very helpful in crop production techniques. The planter grows crops on raised beds with furrows for irrigation.

A furrow separates each bed with a buffer zone at the centre of all furrows. The machine forms two lines of crop on both sides of the furrow.

The planter has a potential to change the conventional irrigation and planting methods. Rice, the high water-consuming crop, for the first time has been cultivated on beds through planter. The recent experiments have proved that it could save 50 per cent of water and increase yield by 20-25 per cent.

There is a need to apprise farmers about new technologies The use of traditional techniques in cultivation and irrigation is hampering their performance and resulting in the loss of water and low yield.

Irrigation of crops through canals and tube-wells is a serious issue in Punjab and farmers face problems of water theft ensuing in clashes over their turn for irrigation. Clashes over water distribution often results in death and injuries among warring faction of farmers opening a gate for unending litigation and hostilities between growers.

Owing to water shortages farmers in various areas of the province have stopped cultivation of rice, sugar cane and even wheat.

For water preservation, the government has spent billions of rupees to brick line watercourses.

It has also formed various water-user committees to look after the project. The farmers complain that though through brick lining water wastage has been controlled; still they were facing problems in irrigating their lands turn by turn.

Ijaz Ahmed, a farmer of Khurrianwala, said that he had personally tested the bed planter and found it very efficacious in achieving good results.

Dr Iqrar Ahmed, the vice-chancellor of the university, said that farmers were being convinced to adopt this cheap and easy-to- use technology for saving water and achieving high yield.

Such developments were the need of the hour and he urged the scientists of the institution to continue their research for new technologies to minimise use of water, fertilisers and such other inputs in agriculture sector to attain autarky in food and for the prosperity of the nation.

He, however, said a gap existed between the agriculture scientists and farmers which should be bridged for the improvement of the agriculture sector and utilisation of modern technology. Agriculture sector could be strengthened by developing innovative, useful, affordable and practical technologies, he added.