Speakers Stress Need For Storing River Water

PESHAWAR, Nov.29 (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 29th Nov, 2016 ) : Director General of the Meteorological Department, Dr Ghulam Rasool said Pakistan had great reservoirs of water in the form of over seven thousand glaciers, which contributed to the main rivers of the country.

This water was the lifeline for the farming sector, he said, speaking on the second day of the national conference, organized by the Climate Change Center Centre of the University of Agriculture, Peshawar on 'Thinking Climate Change Adaptation in Water and Farming' here at the University of Agriculture, Peshawar.

He said ground water table level was dropping with the passage of time it could be sustained at pretty level by storing rain and flood water. "Unprecedented amount of water is available in the monsoon season, but we cannot store it.

Why have we not thought about it why it goes waste". According to the international surveys, he said, 2015 was the hottest year, which had made its impact on water and farming in Pakistan, located in heat surplus zone.

Giving his presentation, Prof. Ashfaq Ahmad Chatha from the University of Agriculture, Islamabad, said that farmers could even mitigate the threat by opting for other indigenous avenues in the livestock, including poultry and fish farming.

He said the changed weather cycle had delayed the plantation of wheat, which was to be done by 15 November.

He said the world population would be over nine billion by 2050, but the world was faced with decreasing trend in every sphere.

He said in the climate change had made substantial effects on the food stock across the poor countries. He said the global warming might modify soil structure and cause increase into the erosion process.

He said the climate change phenomenon had been resulted into the soil erosion owing deforestation, rise in temperature and loss of biodiversity. He stressed on the use of new technology in the farming to give impetus to the production.

Explaining his experience in the rural community of Gilgit and Chitral, Helmut Wolf, Chief Executive Officer of Aga Khan Rural Support Programme, said the people in this mountainous zone were living in harsh conditions owing to changing weather and declining livelihood resources.

He said in most of the villages, nestling on slopes of mountains, womenfolk were engaged in farming, which was very difficult for them. He said his organization was mainly involved in livestock and micro-hydro facilities.

Earlier, Vice-Chancellor Dr Zahoor Ahmad Swati spoke on the importance of the conference and thanked the scholars, who had arrived from other institutions to explain their experiences in the adaptation in water and farming. Former CCC Director Dr Jawad and incumbent director Dr Mohammad Akmal also spoke. APP/aqk/azm