The Government of Punjab will launch the Punjab Resilient and Inclusive Agriculture Transformation (PRIAT) project on 1 July.
Out of the total cost of $402 million, $300 million will be funded by the World Bank, and $18 million will be provided by the provincial government, while the remaining $85 million will be provided by the farmers, as per official documents available with this scribe.
The implementation period of the project is five years, and it will be completed on 30 June 2027.
The PRIAT project will be executed throughout Punjab. It comprises three components:
- Improvement of the On-Farm Water Conveyance Efficiency.
- Promotion of Climate Smart Production & Inclusive Access to markets.
- Project Implementation Supervision, Monitoring & Evaluation, Communication, Capacity Building, Research, etc.
The project will strengthen the efforts made under the Punjab Irrigated Productivity Improvement Project (PIPIP) and the Punjab Agriculture & Rural Transformation Program for the up-gradation of the farm level water conveyance infrastructure and equipping the farmers with improved irrigation technologies.
This will create an enabling environment for the transfer of sustained technology at the grassroots level for the optimal and efficient management of available water resources, and provide support for the processing of agricultural produce to get better returns.
The scope of the project includes:
1) Improvement of On-farm Water Conveyance Efficiency
- Improvement of 500 unimproved watercourses
- Extension of lining on 3,500 watercourses
- Reconstruction of 4,000 outlived watercourses
- Development of 3,000 irrigation schemes outside canal commands and riverine areas
2) Promotion of Climate Smart Production
- Installation of high-efficiency irrigation systems on 75,000 acres
- Installation of solar systems for operating HEIS on 50,000 acres
- Provision of certified orchard plants, climate-resilient crops, and vegetable seeds/varieties on 30,000 acres
- Promotion of climate-resilient crop varieties to farmers
- Development of 3,000 on-farm water storage ponds
- Provision of 5,000 soil moisture meters for irrigation scheduling
- Development of on-farm irrigation advisory services (water budgeting and accounting; groundwater mapping; and software development for real-time monitoring mechanism) on 72 watercourses
3) Inclusive Access to Markets through:
The project also envisages the promotion of harvesting, on/off agri-processing and value addition, market linkages, etc.
The project objectives include developing an on-farm irrigation conveyance network in the canal and non-canal command areas to improve water conveyance efficiency.
It is also aimed at promoting value agriculture and crops diversification through the promotion of high-value crops to enhance farmers’ profitability and to generate on-farm green jobs for rural communities to improve their livelihoods and alleviate poverty.
