By Arsalan Ali Islamabad, April 18, (INP-WealthPK): Pakistan is the third largest user of groundwater, with the agriculture sector meeting 60 percent of its demand from this precious source of drinking and irrigation. Surface water supplies irrigate 27 percent of the area, while groundwater irrigates the remaining 73 percent. Punjab province consumes more than 90 percent of total groundwater. Tube wells are a major source of groundwater abstraction. Currently, 1.2 million private tube wells are working in the country, out of which 10200,00 are in Punjab, 76,800 in Sindh, 45,600 in KP, and 57,600 in Balochistan. In terms of groundwater, Pakistan is currently extracting 49 million acre-feet (MAF) from underground aquifers. This has already crossed the sustainable limit of safe yield. Owing to excessive use, the groundwater level is rapidly falling. Since 1960, underground water has been depleting at a rate of one meter per year, which equates to 3.37 feet per year. The minimum underground water level in 1960 was 5.7 meters and the maximum was 15.695 meters, whereas the minimum level in 2018 was 23.500 meters and the maximum level was 50.150 meters. The minimum level of underground water aquifer improved slightly in 2019, reaching 23 meters, while the maximum level also improved slightly, remaining at 50 meters. Similarly, in 2020, the minimum and maximum levels remained at 23 and 50 meters. Talking to WealthPK about awareness of the efficient use of groundwater, Dr. Iftikhar Ahmed, Assistant Professor at the Pakistan Institute of Development Economics (PIDE), said the agriculture sector is a major consumer of groundwater, so the production of water-intensive crops such as sugarcane should be replaced by low water demanding crop. Dr. Ahmed said the international market price of sugarcane was less compared to the domestic price, and instead of local production, it was beneficial to import it. According to Ahmed, installation of solar tubes was a very good initiative taken by the government to facilitate farmers but their usage reduces the underground water resources. Solar tube wells run without electricity so farmers are not worried about paying the electricity bill. Farmers flood their fields with water and a lot of water is wasted, he added. He recommended water metering and charging the farmers on the basis of extraction of water. In this way, wastage of water can be controlled. The Pakistan Economic Survey, 2020-2021 (prepared by the Ministry of Finance) details the state of economy over the past year. The survey shows that cultivation of sugarcane is increasing over the last five years. Sugarcane is cultivated in an area of 1,165,000 hectares, an increase of 12 percent compared to last year’s sown area of 1,040,000 hectares. Production increased by 22 percent to 81.009 million tonnes against 66.380 million tonnes last year. The crop experienced a significant increase in area under cultivation and yield. Good economic returns encouraged the growers to bring more area under cultivation. However, there is a flip side. More water is utilized in growing sugarcane crops. For instance, sugarcane requires 1,500-2,500mm of rainfall (or water from other sources) to complete the growth cycle. Dr. Abedullah, Chief of Research at PIDE, told WealthPK that between 1,500 and 3,000 litters of water was required for production of one kilo sugarcane. He said the crops we grow like rice and sugarcane and the way we irrigate them were not sustainable. According to Abedullah without any education or awareness about not wasting water or using effective irrigation methods, it will continue to be wasted. Meanwhile, the water reaching the end-users has also decreased due to further losses along the way. Our water management practices are highly inefficient because freshwater is used for irrigation purposes, he added. Dr. Tariq Banuri, founding executive director of Sustainable Development Policy Institute (SDPI), agreed that Pakistan was wasting its water resources due to inefficient consumption patterns and negligible recycling.’ The farmers should use advanced watering methods like drip and sprinkler irrigation systems rather than flooding their fields. Water metering is compulsory for all users from domestic, agriculture, or industrial units. Once the amount of utilization is known, it enables better planning and management of the precious resource. The policymakers need to rethink water policy by urging the recycling of wastewater.