Agriculture Reference
In-Depth Information
9.3 POTENTIAL FOR REDUCING CO 2 THROUGH IMPROVED
IRRIGATION MANAGEMENT
There are different potential ways of reducing energy use in agriculture.
The first option is to improve energy efficiency by increasing overall pump-
ing plant efficiency through the use of high-quality pumps and electric
motors. However, such interventions are expensive and, more importantly,
have limited scope. The second option is to introduce on-site renewable
energy sources such as wind and solar energy. These sources will neither
lead to transmission and distribution losses, like electric energy, nor will
they produce CO 2 emissions, like diesel tubewells. The initial investments
in these resources might be high; however, considering their long-term
economic and environmental benefits they should be given serious con-
sideration. The third option is to reduce irrigation water demand through
improved on-farm water management practices. This option is particularly
relevant to Pakistan where on-farm water use efficiencies are extremely
low. Average crop yields of major crops are low in Pakistan, for example:
2770 and 3190 kg ha −1 for wheat and rice, respectively. There is great vari-
ability in crop yields with some farmers achieving 5500 kg ha −1 of wheat
and 3545 kg ha −1 of rice (Qureshi et al., 2004). The productivity of water
in Pakistan is among the lowest in the world. For wheat, for example, it
is 0.6 kg m −3 as compared to 1.0 kg m−3 in India. Maize yields in Pakistan
(0.4 kg m −3 ) are nine times lower than those in Argentina (2.7 kg m −3 ) (Bas-
tiaanssen, 2000). This reveals substantial potential for increasing water
productivity.
9.3.1 IRRIGATION PRACTICES IN PAKISTAN AND OPTIONS
FOR IMPROVEMENT
Despite the shortage of water, over-irrigation is a major problem in Paki-
stan. The impact of this is not only wastage of water, which could be used
by other sectors or used in expansion of agriculture, but also waterlogging
and soil salinity problems. This means that a significant amount of the ap-
plied irrigation water is lost by seepage from the irrigation canals and deep
 
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