European Union funded “Better Management Practices (BMPs) for Water Thirsty Crops Project” was initiated in 2006 to ensure sustainable resources of freshwater to support the livelihood of poor communities in Pakistan. This Project aims to create a mechanism for increasing water availability and reducing pollution by decreasing amount of water and pesticide use in sugarcane and cotton production. This has been partially achieved by developing and implementing appropriate ‘on farm’ Better Management Practices (BMPs) in Faisalabad and Bahawalpur in Punjab Province, working closely with research centres, target farmers and extension services.

BMPs are agricultural practices which optimize the three pillars of sustainability: social responsibility, environmental integrity and economic viability. Use of BMPs can reduce the problems caused by many of the agriculture’s direct environmental impacts while providing more income for farmers by saving water, reducing pesticides/fertilisers and increasing output in terms of better production and economic benefit to the BMP farmers.