At the beginning of the sowing season for cash crops like rice and cotton, the nation is facing a thirty percent water shortfall, according to the Indus River System Authority (Irsa) on Wednesday.
According to Irsa, the reason for the disparity is because the northern regions saw less winter snowfall than usual, which has an impact on the irrigation-dependent catchment areas of the Jhelum and Indus rivers.
Rice, corn, sugarcane, cotton, and other monsoon or kharif crops are grown in April and require a warm, humid climate with enough of rainfall.
As a result of the country’s glaciers being impacted by climate change, there was less snow than usual, Muhammad Azam Khan, an assistant researcher with Irsa, told AFP on Wednesday.
“This will directly affect how much water is available for summertime kharif crops.”
As the monsoon rains fall later in the season, the gap caused by the water scarcity is anticipated to close.
To add to the uncertainty, the meteorological authority has also predicted higher than average temperatures during the monsoon season.
The main economic sector, accounting for around 24% of the country’s GDP, is agriculture.
However, it has drawn criticism for being inefficient with water.
According to Khan, “the authorities will have to better plan on how to utilise the water that is allotted to them because of the current water shortage for the crops.”
The nation has recently had to deal with the severe effects of climate change, which include erratic and changing weather patterns.
Devastating floods that killed over 30 million people in 2022 and badly damaged the cotton crop were also attributed by scientists to climate change.
