Environmental Initiatives in Agriculture Services

In Pakistan, 90% of the total water usage, is in agriculture. Availability of good quality water is decreasing across the world. Coupled with population growth and climatic changes, the water challenges will only increase if unaddressed. 
Nestlé being a responsible corporate citizen is fully aware of its responsibility towards the community where it operates. A number of initiatives to increase water use efficiency in agriculture have been taken, starting from educating the farmers, up to providing solutions for irrigation. A few glimpses of our efforts are:
• Increased the farming of Rhodes and Alfalfa to 2,179 acres of land, resulting in the reduction in number of sowings, less usage of energy and water, and increased crop yield. 
• To tackle the water scarcity issues and optimize its use, soil moisture sensor, pilot study conducted at one of the fields that serves to measure water in the field. These sensors inform farmers to determine the actual moisture content at the root zone, and therefore notify the farmer more accurately when to irrigate. 
System gives following crop benefits:
Water saving 10 – 12%
Increase in crop yield
Local assembly of hardware allows for high affordability and customizability, reacting to farmers’ individual needs.

• Promoting drip irrigation among farmers to save water. Increased the area of drip irrigation to 68 acres in 2017, which saves estimated 140 Million liters water annually, giving better returns to farmer by increasing crop yield and quality of produce.