DLP Report
PESHAWAR
Secretary Agriculture Dr Muhammad Bakhtiar Khan on Thursday said the proposed Asian Development Bank-funded “Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Resilient Irrigated Agriculture Livelihood Development Project (KPRIALDP)” would benefit vulnerable communities and play a key role in promoting food security in the province.
He was chairing a pre-wrap-up meeting regarding the proposed project. Representatives of the Asian Development Bank Resident Mission, Director General On-Farm Water Management Hayat Khan and members of the technical team attended the meeting. Speaking on the occasion, Dr Bakhtiar said modern initiatives such as smart irrigation, short-duration vegetables, olive cultivation and other high-value crops were the need of the time. During the meeting, the ADB team gave a detailed briefing on the proposed project and highlighted its key features.
Officials informed the meeting that the project was currently in the planning stage and preparation of the PC-1 document was under way.
The participants were told that the project was expected to increase cultivated and irrigated areas, improve crop productivity and cropping intensity, create employment opportunities, enhance living standards of local communities and strengthen food security.
According to the briefing, the project would cover sectors including on-farm water management, soil and water conservation, agricultural extension, agricultural engineering, agricultural research systems, forestry and wildlife. The meeting was informed that rehabilitation of the Pehur Main Canal Command Area in Mardan district, covering 14,385 hectares, had been proposed under the project. Similarly, under Pehur High Level Canal Lot-IV, around 4,424 hectares of new land in Mardan and Nowshera districts would be brought under irrigation.
In District Chitral, development of a new command area spread over 1,466 hectares has also been proposed through the Mulkhow irrigation scheme.
Officials said the total estimated cost of the project was proposed at $239.13 million.
