Assistant Engineers from the KPK Irrigation Department visited WIT, LUMS.

A delegation of newly inducted Assistant Engineers from the Government of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa-Irrigation Department (GoKP-ID) visited the Centre for Water Informatics and Technology, LUMS, on 7th March 2022.

During the visit, the Assistant engineers were introduced to the state-of-the-art technological innovation on integrated water management, on-farm technologies including Soil Moisture Sensors, Weather Stations, Phenotyping robots, and the application of remote sensing (RS) for irrigation demand estimation and crop health monitoring, etc. The technological innovations were practically demonstrated at the LUMS Digital Agriculture Field (an NCRA-Agricultural Robotics Lab project).

Dr. Abubakr Muhammad presented the WIT's research on demand-driven irrigation management. Dr. Talha Manzoor presented his work on Data-driven hydrological modeling at Namal Dam, Mianwali. Dr. Fozia Parveen presented her work on the quantification of Microplastic in water and wastewater and also the case study on the role of Waste Scavengers in Plastic Recycling (a case study of Johar Town Lahore).

The visit was organized by International Water Management Institute (IWMI) as part of the USAID-supported activity Water Management for Enhanced Productivity (WMfEP). WMfEP seeks to reduce constraints to the productive and sustainable use of water for agricultural production, enabling increased farm household income and improved livelihoods to contribute to socio-economic development and political stability. Under the initiative, the Assistant Engineers from GoKP-ID are visiting Government Engineering Academy Punjab (GEAP) and engaging with Water experts as part of the Peer-to-Peer (P2P) learning. These sessions aim to introduce the participants to the latest tools and practices that would be helpful for them in doing their job after completing this training.