Journal of Agriculture
and Environmental Sciences

Irrigation and Food Security: A Quest for Distribution, Ranking and Relationships in the districts of the Punjab Province, Pakistan
Hafiz Zahid Mahmood, Sana Iftikhar, Dr. Muhmmad Khan, Fakhar-un-Nisa

Abstract
It is stylized fact that irrigation plays pivotal rolein crop husbandry, enhances many folds yields per acreand this may, consequently, have augmented food security. This study was devised to observe the irrigation distribution / inequalities in the districts of the Punjab province of Pakistan. These districts were ranked as per irrigation distribution / inequalities, ratios of water availability through various modes of irrigation including canal, Tubewell, canal plus Tubewell and overall irrigated area to total cultivated area. Moreover,impacts of target variables were quantified onfood insecure population (%). In this regard, cros-sectional data were collected form Punjab Agriculture Census Report 2010 (Government of Pakistan 2012) and food insecurity in Pakistan 2009 (SDPI, SDC, WFP 2009). Irrigation distributions / inequalities were estimated by using Gini Coefficient while ascending and descending orders were used for ranking of the districts for the target variables as per nature of the values of the indicators had been determined by using different tools. Moreover, econometric modeling was done using Multiple Linear Regression by taking food insecure population (%) as an endogenous while Gini values of irrigation distribution /inequalities, ratios of water availability for crop rearing per cultivated area including some control variables like Gini of operational farm holdings, farmers’ literacy rates, farms using chemicals (% ) and livestock population per acre in the districts. Results were found as expected that food insecurity increases with rise in Gini of irrigation distribution and vice ver. Moreover, food security increases with rise in water availability through various modes of irrigation.

Full Text: PDF