Economic and environmental impact assessment of sustainable future irrigation practices in the Indus Basin of Pakistan.

ABSTRACT: Pakistan's agriculture is characterized by insecure water supply and poor irrigation practices. We investigate the economic and environmental feasibility of alternative improved irrigation technologies (IIT) by estimating the site-specific irrigation costs, groundwater anomalies, and CO₂ emissions. IIT consider different energy sources including solar power in combination with changes in the irrigation method. The status quo irrigation costs are estimated to 1301 million US$ year^-1, its groundwater depletion to 6.3 mm year^-1 and CO₂ emissions to 4.12 million t year^-1, of which 96% originate from energy consumption and 4% via bicarbonate extraction from groundwater. Irrigation costs of IIT increase with all energy sources compared to th

SUBMITTER: Muzammil M 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC8648764 | biostudies-literature | 2021 Dec

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature