Open AccessIntensification-induced Degradation of Irrigated Infrastructure: The Case of Waterlogging and Salinity in Pakistan
Author(s) -
Usman Mustafa,
Prabhu Pingali
Publication year - 1995
Publication title -
pakistan development review
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.154
H-Index - 26
ISSN - 0030-9729
DOI - 10.30541/v34i4iipp.733-750
Subject(s) - irrigation , waterlogging (archaeology) , agriculture , water resource management , investment (military) , cropping , agricultural economics , government (linguistics) , business , salinity , distribution (mathematics) , geography , environmental science , economics , political science , mathematics , agronomy , geology , ecology , wetland , linguistics , philosophy , archaeology , politics , law , biology , mathematical analysis , oceanography
Water and land development, use, and distribution has played avital role in agricultural development in Pakistan. The country's canalirrigation system is the largest contiguous irrigation system in theworld-consisting of 40,000 miles of canals and over 80,000 watercourses, field channels and ditches running for another million miles[Qureshi and Zakir (1994)]. This irrigation network covers more than 70percent of Pakistan's agriculture. Private investment has alsocontributed significantly to the irrigation system in the form ofprivate tubewells. About 32 percent of farm-gate available water issupplied by the private tubewells, [Government of Pakistan (1988)].These develoPlIlents have not only brought new land under cultivationbut also permitted a considerable increase in croppingintensities.