Farmers turn to sewage to irrigate vegetable crops

By Imran Rana

Published: July 10, 2012

A DIRTY DEAL: 40% is the cost reduction in growing vegetables if they are irrigated with sewage, as compared to standard practices.

FAISALABAD: According to reports, farmers – particularly small landholders – have taken to using sewage water to increase crop productivity. Agricultural experts say that wastewater is fast becoming a cheap alternative to expensive fertilizers.

Agriculturists contend that the use of effluent has increased crop yields by up to 25%. Given such claims, most small farmers prefer wastewater for vegetable fields in place of expensive pesticides and fertilizers.

Farmers, while talking to The Express Tribune, added that tube well irrigation is fast becoming a ‘dream’ for agriculturalists because of the high price of fuel needed to power them. “The government is not giving farmers any incentives, as they do in India,” they complained.

Farmer Arshad Mahmood revealed that market prices of agricultural land with access to a source of effluent are much higher, as compared to without it. He also informed that the use of wastewater lessens the cost of production by a whopping 40%. “After irrigating fields with wastewater, crops do not need pesticides and fertilizers,” he said.

“Vegetables need frequent watering for growth, but there is no electricity to run tube wells. The only source available is to draw water using diesel pumps, which is unaffordable for small farmers,” he claimed.

Sewage contains certain essential nutrients like nitrogen, potassium and phosphorus, which are essential to grow crops.

Meanwhile, medical experts have warned that increasing use of sewage for irrigation purposes poses significant health risks for the human beings who consume produce from such farms.

Dr Shafqat Ali – an MBBS doctor – said that ‘food poisoning’ complaints arise when humans consume food from land irrigated by polluted water, which he says contains bacteria, parasites, viruses, toxins and carcinogens; along with the nutrients that attract farmers to their use.

He added that the incidence of such diseases increases when vegetable crops are fed wastewater and pesticides; however, merely the overuse of fertilizer also carries significant health risks.

“Farmers using wastewater fail to follow minimum standards for safety requirements for foods meant for human consumption. To irrigate agricultural land with municipal or industrial sewage causes serious diseases and harms the health of human beings,” said Punjab Agriculture Department District Officer Chaudhry Hameed, while concurring with Dr Ali.

He added that such practices are usually employed by vegetable farmers. “The easy availability of wastewater allows farmers to economically grow crops. Effluent provides both moisture and nutrients to vegetables, resulting in good yields and a lower cost of production,” Hameed informed.

Published in The Express Tribune, July 10^th, 2012.