Agriculture Reference
In-Depth Information
petus for a dramatic increase in the number of private tubewells. Cur-
rently, about 1.2 million small-capacity private tubewells are in operation
in Pakistan (Qureshi et al., 2008). Out of these, 800 000 are located in
Punjab (Figure 1). Investments in the installation of private tubewells are
of the order of US$400 million whereas the annual benefi ts in the form
of agricultural production are to the tune of US$2.5 billion (Shah et al.,
2003). The estimated number of users is over 2.5 million farmers, who
exploit groundwater directly or hire the services of tubewells from their
neighbours. Groundwater currently provides more than 50% of the total
crop water requirements, with fl exibility of availability on an as and when
needed basis (Shah, 2007).
9.2.2 PATTERNS AND BENEFITS OF GROUNDWATER USE
In Pakistan, about 70% of the private tubewells are located in the canal
command areas where groundwater is used in combination with the canal
water, whereas the rest provide irrigation based on groundwater alone.
The combined use of surface water and groundwater (usually referred as
conjunctive use) is now practised on more than 70% of the irrigated lands
in Pakistan. The area irrigated by groundwater alone has increased from
2.7 to 3.4 million ha, whereas the area irrigated by canal water alone has
decreased from 7.9 to 6.9 million ha (Qureshi et al., 2004). In Pakistan
large-scale production of major crops such as wheat, cotton, rice and sug-
ar cane is only possible because of the supplemental use of groundwater
for irrigation. The average cost of irrigating with groundwater is 30 times
higher than that of surface irrigation (World Bank, 2007). The cost of ca-
nal water per year per hectare is US$5.5, whereas groundwater is mar-
keted as US$67 ha
−1
yr
−1
.
The benefi ts of groundwater in Pakistan are multidimensional and
range from drinking water supplies for the urban and rural population, to
economic development as a result of higher agricultural production. The
role groundwater irrigation has attained in maintaining the agricultural
boom is unique and vital and will expand further in future due to mount-
ing pressure to grow more food and increasing incidences of drought in
the region. Qureshi et al. (2003) have shown that more than 70% of the
