“Contest : Water sources and uses in agriculture”

Hello Everyone
I am @z-khan29 from steemit and today I am going to participate in the contest organized by @abdul-rakib and the topic is very important as it is related to every farmer in the country. We all know that water is so much important in agriculture and it is the essential need of every farmer, without water a farmer can do nothing. Since Pakistan is an agricultural country and its most of the economy depends on farming.

In this post, i will tell you all about the water sources and its uses in agriculture and what should our farmers do to improve it and make it even more better.

|Image From Canva|

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What is Irrigation:

Irrigation (also referred to as watering of plants) is the practice of applying controlled amounts of water to land to help grow crops, landscape plants, and lawns.
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Sources Used In Agriculture:

In Pakistan, the agriculture depends on two types of sources i.e. natural sources and artificial sources.

1. Natural Sources:

- Rainwater:

The rainfall is seasonal and it is uneven all over Pakistan. Northern areas like Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Kashmir, these areas get more benefit from rainfall.

- Rivers:

The rivers such as indus river and its branches jhelum, chenab, ravi, sutlej and beas.

- Lakes and Streams:

It is useful in mountainous regions like Gilgit Baltistan and Azad Kashmir.

2. Artificial Sources:

- Canal System:

The canals are man made and Pakistan's canal system is one of the largest network of canals, barrages and rivers and is used to deliver water for agriculture.

- Tube Wells:

Tube wells in Pakistan are very important part of the irrigation system and are used in areas where the water is very less or insufficient. It is constructed in areas where there is no supply of water.

- Drip and Sprinkler Systems:

Drip and sprinkler systems are the two popular methods of applying water to the crops. It is used in modern farming such as for vegetables.

According to the source, Drip Irrigation can save 95 - 100% of water used for your irrigation purposes. When compared with other modern irrigation methods like sprinkler systems (80 - 85%), and traditional irrigation methods like flood irrigation (60 - 70%), drip irrigation saves more water.

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Farmers commonly use canal water as the main source, in areas where canal water is not regular, so then tube wells are installed to meet the water needs. In this way, the irrigation system helps to protect the crop.

Excessive Cost of Irrigation and its Reduction:

Irrigation in Pakistan has become very expensive due to many reasons. The main reason is that the high cost of fuel and electricity required for the operation of tube wells which are used by farmers in the areas where there is no canal water. The other is the leakage of water which leads to the wastage of water and the maintenance is required. When the water is not managed properly so the distribution of water is unregulated. The government should check the illegal water connections in the canal system which reduces the amount of water reaching the required users due to which they look for more options.

To reduce the irrigation costs, the solar powered tube wells should be installed and it reduces fuel and electricity costs. The drip and sprinkler systems should be used to save water and farmers will do less effort. We should teach our farmers the best techniques so that they should prevent the water wastage. The government support is also very important in reducing the irrigation costs.

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Role of Irrigation in Increasing Crop Production:

With the help of irrigation, the quality and quantity of the crop can be increased. The supply of water is very important for a healthy crops such as wheat, rice, sugarcane and cotton. With proper irrigation, better planning a farmer can sow and harvest their crop on time and their efforts matter alot in this process, due to which multiple crops can be grown in a year. So it also includes very good farming practices and it also increases farmers income.

My Opinion on How Natural Water Sources can be Controlled:

We should educated farmers about the importance of natural sources and in this media play an important role. Our farmers are our heroes because of them every crop is grown and before our eating, every farmer's hardwork is included in every crop and we should respect them. The government should also build more dams so that it stores more river water.

I am inviting my friends @asma-khan, @afrkhan and @sakeenazaffar.

I am so thankful to @abdul-rakib for organizing this contest because it contains a lot of information and I have learnt alot from it.

Regards,
@z-khan29