There was a time when you could step into the bathroom and reasonably expect water from the tap. At least in most urban parts. Well, gone are those days and now something as basic as washing your face first requires making logistical arrangements and dealing with the tanker mafia.

In fact, relevant authorities themselves have gotten into the tanker business instead of trying to get it delivered by line. Experts on the subject keep talking about the underpricing of water (or gas for that matter) in Pakistan, but the virtual absence of the state has created a private market for the utility — thus leading to price discovery.

However, in limiting ourselves to domestic usage, the urban centres miss the forest for the trees. It’s the agriculture sector that consumes around 70-90 per cent of Pakistan’s water, in part due to water-intensive crops like sugarcane and rice. And to top it off, the segment is marred with wastages, thanks to the traditional flood irrigation system.

One way to address this is through the drip irrigation system where low-pressure water is directly supplied to the root of the plant through valves and emitters. This allows up to 50pc of water savings in addition to improving crop yields, which is why some of the major agri economies like India and the US are switching towards it.

A drip irrigation system can allow upto 50pc water savings and improve yields by supplying water directly to the roots

So the question is, why aren’t we making the move? Based on varying sources, 70,000 and 100,000 acres in Pakistan are currently on drip irrigation, accounting for less than 0.2pc of the total cropped area. Well, the answer is pretty simple: the cost of the system.

Drip irrigation system has capital expenditure between Rs200,000-Rs300,000 per acre, which is too much to bear for our farmers, according to an official of the Punjab Irrigation Department. To address this, the provincial government introduced a 60pc subsidy on the upfront cost.

However, even the remaining 40pc was still overwhelming, according to Shakeel Ahmed, Business Manager at Jaffer Brothers’ High Efficiency Irrigation Systems, which supplies the equipment for drip irrigation and reportedly has a 40pc market share. “There was also a high operational cost of energy, but the recent subsidy on solar by the Punjab government has helped address that bit,” he says.

To address this, Nestle launched a program, Caring for Water — Pakistan, whereby it would pay for the remaining 40pc (farmer’s share) of the capital expenditure while the 60pc would be borne by the Punjab government. Through this initiative, around 205 acres of land was covered, starting from districts around Sheikhupura and Kabirwala, while sensors were installed on another 455 acres — reportedly leading to an estimated savings of a cumulative 368,000 cubic metres of water in 2021.

Less than 0.2pc of the total cropped area is on the drip irrigation system in Pakistan

“A major reason why the high efficiency irrigation system (HEIS) is still limited to a small scale in Pakistan is the high capital costs. Almost all raw materials for the equipment, spare PVC, are imported and with time, have only become more expensive due to the rupee devaluation. If we want to expand the drip irrigation network here, we need localised production. This is how the technology took off in countries like India and Turkey,” says Mr Ahmed.

It may take a while to set up domestic production, and until then, the World Bank has introduced a number of projects for the promotion of HEIS, including the $262 million Punjab Resilient and Inclusive Agriculture Transformation programme launched this year. Though there is massive room for growth, it still means Punjab is way ahead of other provinces in terms of drip adoption.

Currently, Sindh accounts for 10pc of the drip-covered area at best, even though the provincial government had launched a six-year $185m project to promote the same with World Bank’s support back in 2017. The adoption in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Balochistan is even lower Nestle, for its part, is now working to increase the reach of the programme. “We plan to expand drip irrigation in 2023 to up to 100 acres of land, working with farmers for the first time in Sindh for banana, mango and jojoba crops,” according to the company’s Head of Corporate Affairs & Sustainability, Sheikh Waqar Ahmed. Meanwhile, Jaffer Group is also exploring ways to localise the production of the equipment, but given the macro challenges, they are cautious for now.

Unfortunately, we don’t have much time. Reports have already projected Pakistan to be a water-scarce by 2025. Climate change has become starkly obvious even to the deniers. While climate change may not have been our fault originally, the responsibility to take remedies eventually falls on us for the sake of survival. Drip irrigation could be just one of those initiatives instead of dreaming about reparations.

Published in Dawn, The Business and Finance Weekly, December 26th, 2022