Rs 68 Billion PRIAT Offers Climate Smart Water-use Technologies To Farmers At Subsidized Cost

Punjab government has asked farmers to avail a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity of upgrading their water systems, resilient to extreme weather events, to irrigate their crop fields efficiently and at lower cost under a World Bank financed Rs 68.672 billion Punjab Resilient and Inclusive Agriculture Transformation (PRIAT) project that offers the upgrade at a highly subsidized cost over a course of five years

MULTAN : Punjab government has asked farmers to avail a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity of upgrading their water systems, resilient to extreme weather events, to irrigate their crop fields efficiently and at lower cost under a World Bank financed Rs 68.672 billion Punjab Resilient and Inclusive Agriculture Transformation (PRIAT) project that offers the upgrade at a highly subsidized cost over a course of five years.

The World Bank’s Board of Executive Directors approved $200 million in financing to support Pakistan in transforming the agricultural sector by adopting climate-smart technologies to improve water-use efficiency, build resilience to extreme weather events and increase the incomes of small farmers, according to information available on World Bank web site, posted on July 14 last year.

Agriculture spokesman said that the five-year 2022-27 project encompasses improvement in water courses, building older water courses afresh which have completed their maximum utility time, installing modern drip/sprinkler systems in rain-fed areas with solar systems to power them, and construction of ponds for water storage.

The spokesman did not specify exactly how much subsidy would be offered but added that different schemes would have different cost-sharing formula with a heavy portion of cost like 70-80 percent to be borne by the government and the rest by the farmers.

The spokesman said that another mega national project for improvement in water courses has also entered its second phase and completion of the two big projects would put new life into Pakistan agriculture not only in the irrigated but most importantly in the rain-fed Arid Agriculture area and help improve national agriculture production manifold besides improving small farmers’ financial standing.

For the year 2022-23, farmers have been asked to visit the office of deputy director water management, assistant director water management, or they can also visit the web site ‘http//ofwm.agripunjab.gov.pk’ to get more information to avail the facility being offered under the revolutionary project.