Water and land management will be enhanced for over 750,000 hectares of agricultural land in Punjab using an innovative application of high-level technology integrating satellite remote sensing and mathematical modelling, which is being financed by the Asian Development Bank (ADB).
The Water-Financing Partnership Facility (WFPF)-supported method has permitted the employment of new technology, which has previously been utilised to advise farmers about irrigation requirements at the farm level. WFPF is critical to improving ADB’s operations and responding to the Asia-Pacific region’s issues by offering ‘business-as-usual’.
According to an ADB research, using advanced remote sensing technologies and mathematical programming approaches to control canals in Punjab will help about 2 million people.
This solution improves social justice and resilience to climate change through rotation corrections, resulting in enhanced food production, farm profitability, and reduced income disparities. The concept is a low-cost alternative to infrastructure rehabilitation, with potential for growth and replication in future irrigation modernisation projects.
The Pakistan initiative has brought together farmers, government organisations, leading institutions, researchers, canal operators, and consultants to create breakthrough technology. It built sensors and created a decision support system to establish a responsive distributary rotation that encourages equitable access to water among farming communities, so increasing their climate resilience.