Regenerative agriculture and responsive drip irrigation can reduce water and fertilizer waste while preserving the nutritional health of the soil, according to Dr. Ghulam Muhammad Ali.
A conference titled “Responsive Drip Irrigation in Pakistan: A Transformative Water Management Solution to Improve Livelihoods and Climate Resilience” was organized by the Pakistan Agricultural Research Council (PARC) in association with Eva-Anna Farms and Responsive Drip Irrigation (RDI) of the United States.
Senior scientists, water resources experts, and representatives from NARC, Responsive Drip Irrigation (RDI), Eva-Anna farms, INGOs, NDMA, and ICARDA all attended the event.
Regenerative agriculture and responsive drip irrigation can reduce water and fertilizer waste while preserving the nutritional health of the soil, according to Dr. Ghulam Muhammad Ali, chairman of the Pakistan Agriculture Research Council (PARC), who spoke at the event.
He claimed that RDI has the power to transform agriculture in Pakistan’s arid Thar, Cholistan, and Thal deserts and other water-scarce areas.
The chairman emphasised the value of youth participation in the agricultural industry and gave the assurance that PARC would always be available to provide technical assistance for agricultural advancements.
He added that RDI has been successfully tested at NARC and in farmer fields. Dr. Bashir Ahmad, director of CEWRI at NARC, gave a demonstration of the system’s operation and emphasised the benefits of water-smart agriculture.
The CEO of RDI (USA/UAE), Ms. Jan Gould, claimed that RDI was a highly effective system that could increase crop biodiversity, double crop yields while using only half as much water, and lower the risk of chemical contamination in food.
She emphasized that because RDI didn’t require complicated machinery, it was easy to use and maintain. Ms. Jan stressed the significance of producing RDI locally in order to increase the system’s profitability.
Responsive drip irrigation delivers water directly to the root zone of plants through a network of small, precisely placed drip emitters. This type of irrigation system is considered “responsive” because it can be adjusted based on real-time information about soil moisture, plant water needs, and weather conditions.