Irrigation in Sindh province has a history of several thousand years. Without irrigation there would be virtually no agriculture in the province. The context for the present development of irrigation in Sindh is the overall development of water resources in Pakistan that began in earnest in the late 19th century. Since that time, Pakistan has harnessed the Indus River, the country's only major river, to bring about 14 million hectares of largely arid land under irrigation. This includes about 5.1 million ha in Sindh and all adds up to the world's largest irrigation system, one of great technical, institutional and social complexity. The resulting irrigated agriculture system accounts for a quarter of Pakistan's GDP, two thirds of employment and about 80% of exports.
The country's economic and social well being is built on this water system despite the scant average annual rainfall of just 240 millimeters. Sindh is the southern-most province of Pakistan, the second largest province in terms of population (about 33 million), and is located at the tail end of this vast system of irrigated agriculture. In order to systemize agriculture, Department of Agriculture has been established to support strengthen agriculture for the prosperity of the province. The major thrusts of the Agriculture Department are:
- Modernization of agriculture research
- Advancement of mechanized agriculture
- Advancement of mechanized agriculture
- Strong market information system
- Improved agriculture extension service; and Water Management
The Government of Sindh through Agriculture Department implemented number of projects financially assisted by Donors and Government of Pakistan as well as from its own resources under ADPs. The Agricultural Engineering & Water Management wing of Agriculture Department has played a pivot role in the development of Agriculture Sector, specifically divert the attention towards Water Conservation and Productivity Enhancement for more cropping intensity and crop yields.
Management & Development Foundation organized two (2) training workshops separately under title "Three Day Refresher Training on Social Mobilization and Community Development Aspects" with the support of Directorate General Agricultural Engineering & Water Management, Sindh to the staff of the project, On Farm Water Management (OFWM) funded by World Bank. It was organized on 12 - 14 & 15 - 16 March, 2012 in the training hall of SAFWCO Head Office, Qasimabad.
The main objective of the training was to learn the various techniques of social mobilization and community development aspects by the officers/staff of Directorate General Agricultural Engineering & Water Management, Sindh through organizing 3-day training workshops.
The 33 participants of the two workshops were Water Management Officers (WMOs) of project field team and supervisory staff of Directorate General Agricultural Engineering & Water Management, Sindh on the project "On Farm Water Management (OFWM)"