Punjab, FAO launch portal to track data on climate, water and crops

According to Dawn, the Punjab government and the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) have formally launched the Agriculture, Climate and Water (ACWA) Punjab Consortium, which will bring climate, crop and water information into one portal. The memorandum of understanding was signed at the consortium's first meeting, held under a Green Climate Fund-supported project that Punjab and Sindh co-finance. The agreement sets up a lasting institutional arrangement among the Planning and Development Board, the Punjab Information Technology Board, and the agriculture, irrigation and environment departments, with FAO offering technical help.

The FAO's project in the Indus Basin has installed field systems, including 24 automatic weather stations, with Punjab hosting 15 of them, plus canal flow and groundwater sensors. Data from these systems will feed into the ACWA portal, giving decision-makers easier access to information for planning, policy and resource management. The project operates in five south Punjab districts and three in Sindh, and participants discussed data backup, secure storage, licensing, confidentiality and hosting after the project ends.

P&D Board Secretary Rafaqat Ali said Punjab's development planning now requires dependable, up-to-date data on climate, farming and water. He added that the consortium gives the province a shared portal to bring this information together. FAO Pakistan representative James Okoth said the partnership reflected strong provincial ownership and evidence-based decisions, and that FAO would keep providing technical support.