HYDERABAD: Sindh Irrigation and Drainage Authority (Sida) Chairman Kabool Mohammad Khatian has said that water shortage in the country has been aggravating with each passing day. Attributing the situation to climate change impacts, he said it was harming the agriculture sector.

Khatian was speaking at the closing ceremony of a four-day training workshop on `Irrigation operators for future programme framework` jointly organised by Sida and World Bank under the Sindh Water and Agriculture Transformation (Swat) project at his institution`s secretariat on Friday.

He said exercises were conducted at the work-shop to underscore importance of irrigation, identify problems and find solutions to water-related issues with the aim of ensuring equitable and reliable water sources for this sector. The solutions, he said, would help improve irrigation management in future and shed the increasing pressure on water managers.

Sida`s General Manager (Transition) Mohammad Sadiq Khaskheli said that the Authority was working on participatory irrigation system in which farmers` organisations and associations of watercourses would play a key role.

He pointed out that Sida was holding regular training workshops involving all stakeholders. These workshops would not only help improve water management but would also bring about agricultural reforms in future.

Jonathan Dennison, a World Bank consultant, said that the irrigationoperators for future (IOFs) is a toolkit for addressing the issues related to water management and making it timely, equitable and reliable.

He said that World Bank was working with Pakistan government and its institutions to improve irrigation system and increase agricultural production.

Kot Ghulam Mohammad Minor Farmers Organisation Chairman Anwar Khan said that the best method for water management was explained in the workshop. By following it, he and his team would make the minor (canal branch) a model branch, he said, adding that farmers getting water from this minor actively participated in the workshop and received knowledge of water management.

An agriculture officer, Ghulam Mustafa Ujjan, pointed out that agriculture department was supporting farmers in pursu-ing `smart agriculture` and efficient irrigation under the Swat project, from which farmers should take full advantage.

Representatives of farmers, Sida, Area Water Boards, irrigation and agriculture departments and students of the Mehran University of Engineering and Technology (MUET) attended the workshop. The Sida chairman gave away certificates to the participants.

Earlier, WB`s Water Resources Management Specialist Jonathan Dennison, Zelalamm Tesfaye Mekonen and a consultant, Mustafa Talpur, identified issues related to water management problems received from stakeholders and categorised them for finding their solutions. They educated farmers on how to classify problems according to their nature and solve them, or look for possible solutions.