Serious Threats to Agriculture

Climate change is posing serious threats to country’s agricultural productivity and water resources and it cannot be avoided totally, but its effects can be mitigated through developing high temperature tolerant, climate resilient, climate smart and genetically modified crops.Climate change has visible signs in Pakistan which include hotter summers, early cold spell, monsoon irregularity with untimely rainfall, increased rainfall over short period causing water logging, increased frequency and intensity of floods, very little rainfall in dry period, crop failure due to drought and salinity intrusion along the coastal region.This was the crux of presentations made by the scientists from University of Agriculture, Faisalabad (UAF) at a workshop jointly organised by the Agricultural Journalists Association (AJA), UAF and Monsanto Pakistan here.

 Topic of the workshop was ‘Effects of climate change on agriculture, water resources and land and its acclimatization in Pakistan.’ It was addressed among others by Prof. Ashfaq Ahmad Chattha, in charge climate change cell UAF, Dr. Arshad Ahmad Khan, Dr. Zahir Ahmad Zahir, Monsanto Pakistan Country Lead Aamir Mahmood Mirza and AJA President Almas Ahmad Khan.Prof Ashfaq Ahmad Chattha in his presentation said that not only CO2 level but temperature was also rising due to climate change which increases water requirement for the crops and in case of water non-availability results in loss of production. 

He said that we cannot stop temperature increase, CO2 emission or deforestation but we can adapt to new technologies and methods to increase agri production. He stated that we should redefine agro-ecological zones due to climate change. 

Giving his suggestions, he stressed the need for developing varieties (idealistic plants) from climate change perspective and introduction of new crops using conventional as well as mutation breeding through biotechnology & genetic engineering.Country Lead Monsanto Pakistan Aamir Mahmood Mirza, informing about the activities of the biotech industry, said that Monsanto was working with the objective of produce more-conserve more and improving lives so as to put minimum pressure on available resources and meet the challenges of changing climate globally. He said Monsanto invests $1.5 billion per annum in research and development activities to double the yield of cotton, corn and soy by 2030. He said genetically modified or biotech crops’ opposition in Europe is also subsiding as relevant scientific data is convincing more and more anti-biotech campaigners there to admit the fact that agricultural biotechnology is safe and should be fully deployed in order to ensure sufficient food for growing population. Aamir informed world-known British writer and environmentalist Mark Lynas, who had helped spur the anti-GM movement back in the mid 1990s, has confessed that he was completely wrong to oppose GMOs (genetically modified organisms).Dr Arshad Ahmad Khan, in his presentation on impact of climate change on water resources, said that Pakistan ranks 4th in the world with respect to irrigated area (about 7pc). He said severe effects of climate change on water resources could be seen in shape of changes in precipitation, drastic increasing trends in temperature, hazardous alteration in period of winter and summer, harmful rising in the sea level and depletion of groundwater.He called for implementation of climate change policy in Pakistan, organizing climate change monitoring and impact assessment activities on scientific basis by filling the observational gaps over low elevation plains and glaciers zones and construction of water reservoirs in the upper catchments of the  Indus.  He strongly advocated construction of Kalabagh Dam, terming it most suitable downstream dam for the country. He also called for modern efficient irrigation methods such as sprinkle, drip and trickle irrigation.

Source: http://www.nation.com.pk/