On July 1, the Punjab government will kick off the Punjab Resilient and Inclusive Agriculture Transformation (PRIAT) project.
According to official documentation available, the World Bank will fund $300 million of the total cost of $402 million, the province government will provide $18 million, and the farmers will provide the remainder $85 million.
The project will be finished on June 30, 2027, after a five-year implementation phase.
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The Agriculture Transformation initiative will take place across Punjab. It is made up of three parts:
1. Increasing the performance of on-farm water conveyance.
2. Promoting climate-smart production and market accessibility for all.
3. Project supervision, monitoring, and evaluation, communication, capacity building, and research, among other things
The initiative will support efforts under the Punjab Irrigated Productivity Improvement Project (PIPIP) and the Punjab Agriculture and Rural Transformation Program to upgrade farm-level water conveyance infrastructure and provide farmers with improved irrigation technologies.
This will establish an enabling environment for the transfer of long-term technologies at the grassroots level for the most effective and efficient management of available water resources, as well as assistance for the processing of agricultural produce to improve returns.
The project’s scope includes the following:
Upgrading of On-farm Water Conveyance Efficiency
- 500 poorly maintained watercourses will be improved.
- 3,500 watercourses will have their lining extended.
- Reconstruction of 4,000 watercourses that have reached the end of their useful life
- Construction of 3,000 irrigation schemes outside of canal commands and riverine zones.
Advancement of Climate Smart Production
- On 75,000 acres, establish high-efficiency irrigation systems;
- On 30,000 acres, provide certified orchard plants, climate-resilient crops, and vegetable seeds/varieties.
- Educating farmers on climate-resilient crop types
- Construction of 3,000 farm-based water storage ponds
- A total of 5,000 soil moisture metres will be provided for irrigation scheduling.
- On-farm irrigation advising services on 72 watercourses
Wide-ranging Access to Markets through:
Harvesting, on/off Agri-processing and value addition, market connections, and other activities are all part of the Agriculture Transformation project.
To ensure improved conveyance system performance, the project will create an on-farm irrigation conveyance network in the canal and non-canal command areas.
It also aims to promote value agriculture and crop diversification by encouraging high-value crops in order to increase farmer profitability and provide on-farm green jobs for rural communities in order to better their livelihoods and eliminate poverty.
