With the threat of drought looming large over the country, Prime Minister Narendra Modi has asked bureaucrats to look at other avenues of irrigation and pitched for boosting the creation of farm ponds as a short-term effort. During a review of Pradhan Mantri Krishi Sinchai Yojana on Monday, Modi urged officers to treat the challenge of below-normal rainfall as an opportunity, and asked them to explore various traditional irrigation methods such as rain water harvesting, using water from streams and rivers.
The PM called for quick adoption of a multi-pronged strategy to augment the country’s irrigation network. PM said expansion of irrigation has to be linked with a comprehensive evaluation of cropping patterns across States, as well as a judicious mix of modern and micro irrigation systems such as drip and sprinkler irrigation.
He asked officers of various Ministries to relook present administrative mechanisms, financial arrangements and technology applications in the irrigation sector so that it can result in shorter and more comprehensive decision-making process, which could deliver quick results for the farmers. The PM emphasised on involving young researchers from universities in irrigation-policy planning while saying irrigation plans need to be worked out at the district level, and young officers from the civil services should be asked to propose district-level irrigation plans.
Noting that the ground-water levels in some States were falling, PM said it was time to shift cropping-patterns. He called for focus on maize, and initiatives in value-addition in maize, to make it more attractive for farmers. The meeting was attended by top officials of Ministries of Agriculture, Water Resources, Rural Development, and Finance, NITI Aayog and the PMO. Union Water Resources Minister Uma Bharti, Union Minister for Rural Development Chaudhary Birender Singh and others.