IBIS - Indus Basin Irrigation System

IBIS is the largest irrigation system in the world, and includes China, Pakistan, Afghanistan and India. 

It provides water to over 1.6 million km squared of Pakistan's agricultural land

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IBIS - Indus Basin Irrigation System

Advantages

  • 40 percent more land in Pakistan has become available to farm, which has increased food security
  • over 14 million hectares of land is now irrigated
  • a larger variety of crops can be grown, and yields have increased - which means that diets have improved and some farmers have cash crops
  • similarly, diets have improved as fish are farmed in some areas, which is a good source of protein
  • and with more cash crops (spare crops that can be sold), the agricultural industry has grown and can now contribute more to the GDP/GNI of the country, boosting the national and regional economy

Disadvantages

  • some farmers are greedy and take too much water - this deprives others of it, and is unfair as this means that some people still struggle when they shouldn't have to
  • climate - high summer temperatures result in a high rate of evaporation which could lead to salinisation, and means that there's less water for distribution at that time of year
  • a lot of water is lost or wasted due to poor irrigation techniques, and salinisation is becoming a problem, and can potentially cause loss of soil fertility
  • high costs - the maintenance as well as construction

Evaluation

Comments

William waterman

Report

The irrigation system is a myth