For increasing irrigation acreage in India, there is a need to promote Micro Irrigation, said Chhattisgarh Agriculture and Water Resources Minister Brijmohan Agrawal.
He was chairing the meeting of Central-level Committee formed for quick implementation of Pradhan Mantri Krishi Sinchai Yojna (PMKSY) in New Delhi on Saturday.
Irrigation ministers of Maharashtra and Telangana have also been appointed as the members of the Committee.
At the outset Union Water Resources Minister, Uma Bharti expressed her views about the scheme. lauding the views expressed by Agrawal, she asked the officials to include them in the scheme.
Under the PMKSY, NABARD will provide 60 percent of the fund to the states while 40 percent shall be availed as loan.
Notably, there are 27 companies currently registered with the Chhattisgarh State Agriculture Development Corporation limited to make drip irrigation system available to the farmers in the State.
Drip Irrigation Scheme of Horticulture Department running under the aegis of State government is largely benefitting the farmers, taking the state horticulture to a new height of progress, officials stated.
Under this scheme, the farmers use drip system to irrigate their farm land. This scheme ensures proper utilization of water as it irrigates maximum area of land. Irrigating land drop-by-drop through drip system also helps in keeping the soil moist all the time.
The drip irrigation scheme is running in the state since 2006-07. Upto December 2015, around 20,776 hectare of land in the state have been covered under Drip Irrigation Scheme where the drip system has been installed by the farmers under the guidance of state Horticulture Department.
leaving the traditional method of farming, the farmers have progressed by adopting the Drip Irrigation method. One such example is a farmer from Bamhani village (Rajnandgaon dist.) named Khemman Das. Das owns 2 acre of land which was not bearing fruitful result as he had no good source of irrigation. A major improvement in the financial status of the farmer was notice after he adopted the drip irrigation system.
In this regard, the farmer said, "earlier he was totally dependent on flow irrigation which was insufficient for his land. After contacting the officials of Horticulture department, I switched to vegetable farming and irrigated the land with Drip Irrigation System. As a result, the land turned productive yielding a good amount of return with the sale of vegetables. It has not only improved my condition of living but also has inspired a number of farmers in my village".
It is worth mentioning that around 54,538 farmers of the state are being benefited with this scheme of state government. Under this scheme, the small and marginal farmers are given subsidy upto 60 % while 40 % to the other farmers (land upto 5 hectare max.). Under this scheme, the Horticulture Department has fixed a target to get drip system installed in 1,667 hectare of the land in state, during the current financial year.
Besides, a national level scheme namely "Pradhan Mantri Krishi Sinchai Yojana" is also running in the State parallely. It also provides irrigation facility to the farmers. Under this scheme, the state has a target to get around 1785 hectare irrigated through this beneficiary scheme.
Chhattisgarh is among 13 states which had been mentioned in the Economic Survey report 2015-16 as a success story on use of drip irrigation by farmers on their lands.
The results from an impact evaluation of National Mission on Micro Irrigation of the Union Ministry of Agriculture conducted in 64 districts of 13 states mainly – Andhra Pradesh, Bihar, Chhattisgarh, Gujarat, Haryana, Karnataka, Maharashtra, Odisha, Rajasthan, Tamil Nadu, Sikkim, Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand – are revealing on the benefits of drip irrigation, according to the survey report.
There were substantial reductions in irrigation costs and savings on electricity and fertilisers .This is because water is efficiently supplied and hence pumps are used for a limited time. Moreover, water soluble fertilisers are supplied directly to the root of the plant and hence there is less wastage, it stated.
Yields of crops also went upto 45 per cent in wheat, 20 per cent in gram and 40 per cent in soybean, the report stated.
The resulting improvement in net farm incomes is substantial. Until now micro-irrigation techniques, owing to high fixed costs of adoption, have mostly been used for high value crops. However, recent research has shown its feasibility even in wheat and rice, the report stated. Notably in February last year, the Chhattisgarh Government decided to follow the Gujarat model of 'Drip and Sprinkler Irrigation' practices in the State.
It is worth mentioning here that many villages in Gujarat have adopted 100 per cent Drip and Sprinkler Irrigation systems to water crops. In June 2009, more than 93,000 farmers in Gujarat have adopted Drip Irrigation for their total 1.51 lakh hectare land.
Drip Irrigation system and inter-linking of 21 rivers of Gujarat for conservation of water has made it possible for record Sugarcane cultivation in that State.
The Gujarat Green Revolution Company ltd (GGRC) is aimed to promote Micro Irrigation System (MIS) to the farmers of Gujarat as an implementing agency on behalf of Government of Gujarat (GoG) and Government of India (GoI) to bring 2nd Green Revolution in consonance with the 'Agriculture policy of Gujarat Vision 2010' so as to save water and energy, besides multiple benefits to improve Agricultural productivity and farmer’s prosperity at large.