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International Conference on

Recent Trends in Environmental Sustainability

ESCON22/SAgri/13
Evaluating risk of aridity and resilience through water resource management for
sustainable agriculture in Pakistan

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Arshad Ashraf , Awais Ahmed , Ahsan Mukhtar , Muhammad Bilal Iqbal
1 Climate, Energy and Water Research Institute, National Agricultural Research Centre
(NARC), Islamabad, Pakistan.
Correspondence: mashr22@yahoo.com
Abstract
Arid regions are highly vulnerable in context of soaring water demands owing to rapid
urbanization, improved living standards and climate change which need an immediate attention
for sustainable development. Aridity risk was identified in Pakistan through adopting indexing
approach based on agro-climate and aquifer yield potential for sustainable agriculture
development. Agroclimate characterization and zoning was performed using climate data of
30-years period (1990-2019) and aquifer yield potential was assessed using physical
characteristics of the underlying aquifers. The findings of the study indicated arid and hyper-
arid conditions prevailing over 63.8% and 15.5% areas of the country respectively. About,
11.8% exhibited semi-arid condition in parts Gilgit-Baltistan (G-B), Khyber Pakhtunkhwa
(KPK) and Punjab provinces. The groundwater potential was found good in about 25.5% area,
fair in 3.9% area and low to meager in the rest part of the country. The risk of aridity was found
high in about 38.3% area, medium in 17.2% area comprising central parts of the G-B area and
most of the Balochistan province and low in about 44.4% area in the country. In higher risk
zones, a package of key technological options compatible with farming system, e.g. crop
diversification towards high value agriculture and increasing water productivity through
promotion of high efficient irrigation system (HEIS) needs to be introduced. In the lower risk
zones of aridity, a significant groundwater and rainwater potential exists which may be utilized
for sustaining agriculture and livelihoods in the country.
Keywords: aridity; resilience; sustainable; HEIS.

Department of Environmental Sciences, COMSATS University Islamabad, Vehari Campus

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