KATHMANDU – President Bidhya Devi Bhandari has said the negative impact of climate change have been observed in water and agriculture.
Inaugurating the Eighth Asian regional conference of International Commission on Irrigation and Drainage (ICID) in Kathmandu on Wednesday, President Bhandari said the use of modern technology in irrigation has posed a threat to climate change and stressed on the need for special attention to reduce it.
“Let’s understand the importance of water and utilize it properly. It is our duty to conserve water sustainably,” said the president, “It is because of irrigation that the world has been able to ensure food security for millions of people.”
President Bhandari said the need for organized irrigation system has become necessary, more than ever before, in the wake of growing threat of disasters such as intense rainfall, and drought due to the climate change and increasing environmental degradation.
“It would not be possible to meet the global sustainable development without systematic irrigation and water,” she said. “Now the time has come to focus the attention on developing multi-purpose water and irrigation project by utilizing the natural resources available on earth with the adoption of modern science and technology.”
President Bhandari expressed her worry that the failure to pay heed to ecological balance has resulted in deforestation, environmental deterioration, thereby posing serious threats to aquatic animals.
Addressing the conference, President Bhandari underscored the need to modernize, commercialize and mechanize the subsistence agriculture sector of Nepal.
“Sustainable irrigation system is needed to increase the agricultural production. Now is the time to develop agriculture and irrigation in a coordinated manner rather than separate projects,” the president noted.
President Bhandari emphasized the need for planting more trees in the Chure-Mahabharat region in order to protect it from further damage.
Minister for Energy, Water Resources and Irrigation Barsa Man Pun said Nepal government should pay special attention to three major sectors—energy, water resource, and irrigation—for economic prosperity. “The government has been considering investing in new technology so as to ensure irrigation to arable land round the year,” he said.
Minister Pun said the government has been working with a target to complete 5000 Megawatt electricity project in the next five years.
International Commission on Irrigation and Drainage (ICID) President Felix Britz Reinders suggested the government to focus on optimum utilization of water, said Nepal’s water resources can be the foundation of economic development.
“The world has not been able to properly utilize the water in agriculture sector,” said Reinders, adding “So let’s understand the importance of water and utilize it.”
Secretary at Energy, Water Resources and Irrigation Ministry Sanjaya Sharma said the conference was organized for further development in irrigation and water management.
The three-day conference themed “Irrigation for Green Revolution” that kicked off in Kathmandu on Wednesday is attended by more than 600 technicians and scientists including 100 foreigners from 30 countries. Around 70 papers on research and experiences from 22 countries will be presented at the conference.
