National Income Accounting and Environment: A Case Study of Waterlogging and Salinity in Pakistan (Economics OF Environment) (Report‪)‬

1. INTRODUCTION Whereas irrigation plays a crucial role in improving agricultural productivity, it has resulted in waterlogging and salinity problems in Pakistan due to both water seepage from canals and overdoses of Water encouraged by inappropriate water pricing practices. (1) As many as 2.2 million hectares of land forming 13 percent of the cultivated area in Pakistan suffer from an acute problem of waterlogging and salinity, i.e., water table is less than 5 feet from the normal surface level. [See Government of Pakistan (1993)]. Despite the government's effort to resolve the problem through an expansive network of public tubewells under the salinity control and reclamation project (SCARP), the problem seems to have worsened over time.