The Chhattisgarh Government has provided administrative sanction of Rs 10.65 crore for setting up a Micro-irrigation project on Dhamasara-Mohad Anicut on Sheonath River using drip irrigation technique, officials informed.
On completion of this Micro-irrigation project will enable irrigation facility for 240 hectares area in Kharif season and that of 240 hectares area in Rabi season, officials informed.
Notably, the Chhattisgarh State Agriculture and Seed Development Corporation and Gujarat Green Revolution Company signed MoU on June 22 for implementation of Gujarat Pattern system for distribution of agricultural equipment to farmers of Chhattisgarh.
Moreover, now the farmers will be able to order agricultural equipment such as drip, sprinkler, irrigation pump, combine harvester, tractor, power tiller, automatic and manual agricultural devices online, as per their convenience.
Notably, 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 feasibility even in wheat and rice, the report stated.