Agriculture experts stress rationalizing of cropping pattern to mitigate climate change impact

ISLAMABAD: Agriculture experts and scientists here on Monday stressed the need for rationalizing the cropping pattern in the country in order to mitigate the prevailing adverse impact of climate change on the local agriculture sector.

They also stressed for introducing the high resistance low water consuming and early maturing seed verities of wheat, cotton, sugarcane and maize for conserving precious natural resources particularly the drastically reducing water resources for agriculture and human consumption.

They said that the cultivation of high-delta crops like sugarcane, rice and the crops, which required more water for irrigation, needed to rationalize and shifting these crops with low-delta water supply crops like pulses, oil seeds including canola and olive to enhance the production of cash crops.

The agriculture sector was badly impacted by recent heat waves and prolonging weather pattern was affecting the major cash crops like wheat, cotton and pulses production in the country, said Chairman Pakistan Agriculture Research Council Dr Yousuf Zafar.

Talking to APP, he said that agriculture sector of the country was acting as the back bone of national economy, adding that besides fulfilling the domestic requirements of staple food for local population, it was a major source for the provision of raw material for industrial sector.

He said that heat wave during the month of April this year had put negative impact on major seasonal crop of wheat as the production of the commodity witnessed decrease as compared the production of last year.

He informed that due to heat wave, the wheat grain shriveled and its production was reduced and due to water shortage, the season's another major cash crop of cotton had witnessed sharp decrease in Sindh and Punjab.

He said that it was foretaste that Sindh would face about 45 percent water shortage and Punjab would face 42 percent during current season.

Due to this situation, cotton sowing had witnessed 16 percent decrease across the crop sowing areas, he remarked.

Dr Yousuf Zafar said that in spite of growing the high delta crops as against the local consumption, the farmers must be encouraged to grow oil seed, pulses and low delta water crops, which would enhance the farm income of local farmers and save the foreign exchange reserves.