Groundwater: Use of Technology to Improve Water Efficiency in Agriculture Sector

To commemorate International World Water Day, Centre for Business and Society (CBS, LUMS) in collaboration with Centre for Water Informatics and Technology (WIT, LUMS) and Nestle, Pakistan organised a panel talk to highlight this year’s annual World Water Day theme; “Groundwater”.

The event titled “Groundwater: Use of Technology to Improve Water Efficiency in the Agriculture Sector” featured expert panelists from both, academic and practitioner domains: 

1.    Ms. Afia Salam, Environmental Journalist 
2.    Mr. Hammad Naqi Khan, CEO WWF – Pakistan
3.    Mr. Waqar Ahmad, Head of Corporate Affairs and Sustainability – Nestle, Pakistan 
4.    Dr. Mahmood Ahmad, Professor of Practice – WIT, LUMS 
5.    Haseeb Malik, Head of Agro – PepsiCo  
6.    Dr. Mohsin Hafeez, Country Director – Internal Water Management Institute (IWMI) 

The session began with a keynote address by the current Secretary Agriculture, Government of Punjab, Mr. Asad Rehman Gillani followed by an open panel discussion moderated by Dr. Zehra Waheed, Director CBS and Assistant Professor, SDSB. 

The discussion provided insightful views and perspectives on what initiatives and plans, different stakeholders such as government and companies, are currently partaking in for purposes such as efficient water usage, agricultural growth and providing subsidies to farmers. An important mention here is PepsiCo and WWF Pakistan’s partnership in 2020 that successfully replenished up to 10 million liters of water through various projects. 

The talk also laid emphasis on the urgent need of promoting effective ways of utilizing groundwater and the cost effective usage of technology while putting forth suggestions of water metering to promote a controlled water usage among the masses. 

An important conversation, the panel talk highlighted the challenges and current efforts underway to improve water efficiency and concluded on a promising note about the future of water systems in the country.