Changing climate adversely impacts agriculture in Chitral

The dry spell this year has badly impacted the small scale subsistence farming in Chitral. More than 90 percent population of Chitral relies on subsistence farming which hardly fulfils their half year food requirements.

This year, surprisingly, snowfall in winter and spring rainfall was scanty. The growth of main crop-wheat , and water needed for healthy growth of plants, in almost all areas of Chitral, has been abysmally ba?More fearful was , and is, the condition in areas where crops ( wheat) depend on rainfall have dried out , and where water supply is scarce are also facing crop watering woes so badly.

Reportedly wheat crops have been prematurely harvested in Orghoch, Broz, and some parts of Mulkhow, and village Parwark , according to a report, also faces water shortage for watering crops, and for drinking. There may be other areas, in Chitral, have water shortage for both drinking and watering crops may aggravate with increasing temperature particularly in the month of June, July and August this year.

According to a report, this year, temperature may likely increase 1 Celsius in Pakistan, and April’s highest temperature recorded in Nawabshah, clearly indicates this change. Dealing with the water woes in Chitral is only possible when provincial government taking Civil Society Organizations on board to pump up river water for crops by using solar energy. In some parts of Chitral solar energy-powered systems are being installed pumping river water. The network of solar energy-powered installations can be environment friendly, and cheap source of energy for lifting water for the areas which are heavily prone to this year’s dry spell. .. Alhaj Muhammad Khan, (F.B) 03 Apr 2018

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