Addressing Water Scarcity in Pakistan's Agriculture

Water is a critically important and fundamental input for agricultural production, with the sector consuming over 90% of Pakistan's freshwater resources (World Bank, 2020). However, water is a limited resource, and acute water scarcity is now a defining national crisis. Pakistan has one of the world's largest contiguous canal irrigation systems, which underpins approximately 90% of its food production. While the agricultural sector's contribution to national GDP has fluctuated, it remains a cornerstone of the economy and livelihoods, directly accounting for 22.7% of GDP and employing 37.4% of the labor force (Pakistan Economic Survey, 2022-23; ILO, 2023).

Stress on available freshwater resources is intensifying due to a rapidly growing population, projected to reach 250 million by 2025, alongside industrialization and urbanization (UN DESA, 2022). This has led to a catastrophic decline in per capita water availability. From over 5,000 cubic meters per capita in 1951, availability has plummeted to approximately 800 cubic meters per capita, firmly classifying Pakistan as a water-scarce country (FAO AQUASTAT, 2020; PCRWR, 2018). Surface water availability is increasingly variable and strained.

Pakistan is ranked among the top ten countries most vulnerable to climate change (Global Climate Risk Index, 2021). The nation faces escalating threats from prolonged droughts, increasing frequency and intensity of floods, and the alarming retreat of Himalayan glaciers, which feed its major river systems. The United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD) has classified Pakistan as a country facing drought emergencies. In its 2013 outlook, the United Nations Environment Program (UNEP) concluded that Pakistan's food, freshwater, and livelihoods are under severe threat from climate change and environmental degradation, driven by factors including unsustainable consumption and production (UNEP, 2013).

Implementing a national water conservation roadmap is therefore an urgent imperative to mitigate the impacts of heat waves, droughts, and associated water shortages. This roadmap must identify and promote conservation measures that ensure the sustainable use of available water resources. Any effort to improve Water Use Efficiency (WUE) will conserve water for all rational uses. This strategy is focused on: conserving water through global best practices and improved WUE and enabling sustainable water resource management under scarcity conditions.

Water Conservation Strategies: An Integrated National Imperative

Water conservation requires a comprehensive and integrated approach, particularly in water-stressed countries such as Pakistan, where climatic variability, population growth, and unsustainable extraction practices have intensified water scarcity. Given the country’s arid to semi-arid climate, with annual rainfall ranging from approximately 90–300 mm in southern regions to nearly 1,600 mm in the north, a substantial proportion of precipitation is lost as surface runoff due to inadequate storage infrastructure and weak watershed management. To address this challenge, the government should prioritize a portfolio of water conservation strategies under existing and new development schemes, with a strong focus on rainwater harvesting and decentralized storage solutions.

Rainwater harvesting offers a cost-effective and scalable mechanism to capture rainfall for use during dry periods. Groundwater recharge through techniques such as Managed Aquifer Recharge is particularly critical in over-exploited regions of Punjab, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, and Balochistan. Interventions including leaky dams, recharge wells, soakaway pits, and check dams have demonstrated strong potential to enhance infiltration, stabilize groundwater tables, and improve water quality. Empirical evidence from pilot initiatives, notably those implemented by the Pakistan Council of Research in Water Resources, indicates measurable post-monsoon improvements in groundwater levels and quality, underscoring the viability of these interventions.

In parallel, small-scale surface water storage structures such as ponds, weirs, and minor dams can significantly improve water availability in hilly and desert regions, supporting domestic use, livestock, and supplementary irrigation. Complementing these measures, in-situ moisture conservation techniques such as terracing, deep tillage, organic soil amendments, and stone bunds enable rain-fed agricultural systems to retain moisture where rainfall occurs, enhancing crop resilience and productivity. Collectively, these strategies form a robust framework for improving water security, strengthening rural livelihoods, and building resilience to climate variability.

Incentivizing Efficient Water Use and Building Adaptive Agricultural Systems

Achieving sustainable water management in agriculture requires a fundamental shift in policy incentives, farmer behavior, and resource utilization. Current subsidy structures for electricity and diesel, while intended to support farmers, often unintentionally promote excessive groundwater extraction by lowering the cost of pumping. This has contributed to rapid aquifer depletion, declining water tables, and rising energy–water inefficiencies. A strategic policy reorientation is therefore needed, one that rewards measurable water-saving outcomes rather than subsidizing input. Introducing incentives linked to efficient irrigation technologies, reduced water abstraction, and improved on-farm water productivity can encourage conservation while maintaining farm incomes.

Equally important is the rationalization of cropping patterns in line with regional water availability. The continued cultivation of high water-consuming crops such as rice and sugarcane in water-stressed regions places unsustainable pressure on limited water resources. Regulatory measures, coupled with market-based incentives, should discourage such practices and promote the adoption of low-delta, high-value crops. Crops such as olives, pulses, oilseeds (including canola), and drought-tolerant varieties offer significant potential to enhance farm profitability while reducing water demand. Aligning procurement policies, crop insurance, and research investments with these crops can accelerate the transition.

Building capacity among farmers is a critical enabling factor in this process. With more than 70 percent of farmers operating as smallholders, limited access to technical knowledge perpetuates inefficient practices, including the widespread misconception that higher water application guarantees higher yields. This results in over-irrigation, waterlogging, and soil salinity. Nationwide extension programs focused on irrigation scheduling, crop-specific water requirements, and efficient irrigation methods are urgently needed to improve water-use efficiency.

Finally, the development of non-conventional water resources offers an underutilized opportunity to augment water supply. Large volumes of untreated municipal wastewater and saline agricultural drainage effluent are currently wasted or cause environmental degradation. With appropriate treatment, regulation, and the use of salt-tolerant crops, these resources can be safely and productively integrated into agricultural systems, easing pressure on freshwater and enhancing long-term water security.

Scaling Resource Conservation Technologies for Sustainable Agricultural Intensification

The adoption of Resource Conservation Technologies (RCTs) represents a critical pathway for improving water-use efficiency, enhancing crop productivity, and ensuring the long-term sustainability of agricultural systems. Technologies such as laser land leveling, raised-bed planting, and zero-tillage have been widely validated through field research and pilot programs, yet their adoption remains limited due to high upfront costs, limited access to equipment, and insufficient awareness among farmers. Addressing these constraints through targeted policy support and incentive mechanisms is essential for scaling up RCTs nationwide.

Laser land leveling is among the most effective water-saving interventions in irrigated agriculture. By ensuring uniform field gradients, it reduces water losses through runoff and deep percolation while enabling more precise irrigation management. Empirical evidence indicates that laser land leveling can result in approximately 50 percent water savings and yield increases ranging from 6 to 10 percent for major crops such as wheat, rice, and maize. In addition to water and yield benefits, this technology also reduces irrigation time, lowers energy consumption, and improves fertilizer use efficiency, thereby enhancing overall farm profitability.

Raised-bed planting offers another high-impact solution, particularly for water-intensive crops like rice. By elevating crop rows and optimizing irrigation applications, this method substantially reduces water use while improving aeration and root development. Research shows that raised-bed planting in rice can save around 23 percent of irrigation water and improve water-use efficiency by nearly 37 percent. If adopted at scale across Pakistan’s rice-growing areas, this approach could conserve billions of cubic meters of water annually.

To realize these benefits, policy interventions should focus on subsidized access to RCT equipment, custom-hiring services, farmer training, and integration of RCTs into public extension programs. Such measures would accelerate adoption, strengthen climate resilience, and contribute meaningfully to national water and food security objectives.

Strengthening Watershed Management and Advancing a Phased Water Security Roadmap

Effective watershed management is fundamental to sustaining Pakistan’s water infrastructure and agricultural productivity. Degradation of upstream catchments, driven by deforestation, overgrazing, and unregulated land use, has accelerated soil erosion and sediment inflows into major reservoirs such as Tarbela and Mangla. As a result, the storage capacities of these strategic assets have declined significantly, undermining their ability to regulate water supply, generate hydropower, and support irrigated agriculture. Long-term investment in watershed management is therefore essential to slow sedimentation, stabilize hydrological regimes, and enhance reservoir longevity. Interventions such as afforestation, construction of check dams, contour trenching, and controlled grazing can effectively reduce runoff velocity, improve groundwater recharge, and restore ecological balance in upper catchments.

Complementing these structural measures, Pakistan requires an integrated and phased roadmap that aligns immediate actions with medium- and long-term reforms. In the short term, priorities should include promoting crop zoning based on agro-climatic suitability, scaling up in-situ rainwater harvesting practices such as micro-catchments and terracing, and accelerating the adoption of resource conservation technologies, including laser land leveling. These measures offer quick gains in water-use efficiency and productivity. Over the medium term, investments should focus on expanding high-efficiency irrigation systems such as drip and sprinkler technologies, implementing large-scale Managed Aquifer Recharge initiatives, and initiating pilot programs for safe wastewater reuse in agriculture. These interventions would strengthen water availability while reducing pressure on freshwater resources.

In the long term, sustainable water security will depend on comprehensive groundwater governance reforms, including abstraction metering, rational pricing, and enforcement mechanisms, alongside revisions to national water allocation policies. Continuous mass awareness campaigns and farmer capacity-building programs must underpin all phases. Together, these coordinated actions form a coherent strategy to address water scarcity, enhance climate resilience, and secure Pakistan’s food and economic future.

Conclusion

Pakistan’s agricultural sector is facing an unprecedented convergence of water scarcity, climate vulnerability, and rising food demand, making water conservation no longer optional but a national imperative. This article has demonstrated that while agriculture remains the backbone of Pakistan’s economy and rural livelihoods, its heavy dependence on increasingly stressed freshwater resources poses serious risks to food security, economic stability, and environmental sustainability. Declining per capita water availability, climate-induced extremes, and inefficient water use practices underscore the urgency for systemic reform.

The proposed water conservation strategy offers a coherent and actionable framework built around improving water-use efficiency, diversifying water sources, rationalizing cropping patterns, and strengthening institutional and farmer capacity. Measures such as rainwater harvesting, managed aquifer recharge, efficient irrigation technologies, and resource conservation technologies can generate immediate and measurable gains, while long-term investments in watershed management, groundwater governance, and policy reform are essential for sustained resilience. Equally critical is the shift from input-based subsidies to outcome-oriented incentives that reward water-saving behavior and productivity gains.

Successful implementation of this strategy will depend on strong political commitment, inter-institutional coordination, and meaningful engagement with farming communities, particularly smallholders. By integrating technological innovation with policy reform and capacity building, Pakistan can transition toward a conservation-centric agricultural model. Such a transition is essential not only to adapt to climate change but also to safeguard national food security and ensure sustainable economic development for future generations.

References: Arshad et al; Ashraf et al; Ashraf; Ashraf & Sheikh; Butt et al; GoP; Ian; Kakar et al; Qureshi et al; Qureshi; Raheel; UNEP.

Please note that the views expressed in this article are of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views or policies of any organization.

The writers are affiliated with the Drainage and Reclamation Institute of Pakistan (DRIP), Pakistan Council of Research in Water Resources (PCRWR) and can be reached at nazargul43@gmail.com

Related Stories