Agriculture Reference
In-Depth Information
Europe and other countries at a faster rate due to the water scarcity and the need to
enhance the yield and quality of the farm produce.
In the Indian context, water scarcity has compelled the farmers to go in for this
advanced method of irrigation to use the water more effi ciently for high value crops. It
is reported that farmers using drip irrigation in Maharashtra state are able to get a net
profi t of Rs. 125,000-250,000 per ha by growing grapes, orange, pomegranate, tomato
and other fruit and vegetables crops. In spite of this, the area under drip irrigation is
only 2.0 M-ha out of about 100 M-ha under irrigation potential created in India, which
is considered a meager achievement. Therefore, it must be emphasized that planning
and implementation of drip irrigation programs in future years should be such as to
achieve a target of 15-20 M-ha by the year 2025.
To achieve the target, more research is needed on the thrust areas, such as:
• To reduce the cost of the system and problem free systems;
• Package of practices for various crops with drip irrigation;
• Improve the performance of drip components especially clogging;
• The minimum thickness of lateral pipe to withstand pressure and to reduce the
cost;
• Design and evaluation of standard micro irrigation system for horticultural,
plantation and row crops in different agro ecological regions;
• Evaluating cost effective adaption of drip irrigation systems under various farm-
ing situations;
• Development and evaluation of fertigation technology for field and horticultural
crops to reduce the fertilizer use;
• Design and evaluation of pressurized irrigation systems as an adjunct with canal
irrigation systems; and
• Development of technology for using poor quality water through micro irriga-
tion systems.
Above all, all the state governments should give subsidy and liberalized credit fa-
cilities from commercial banks, since water is going to be the constraint in agricultural
production in the future
3.9 SUMMARY
Micro-irrigation is having tremendous potential and prospects in India to solve water
scarcity conditions in many locations and to increase the production of agriculture and
tree crops. The area under this system is only 2 M-ha in India compared to the total
irrigated area of more than 100 M-ha in the country. Farmers are convinced about the
advantages of the system.
The Central and State Governments are keen in bringing more area under drip ir-
rigation. The research institutions are undertaking more research programs to provide
required information about the application of water in different stages of crop growth,
reducing the cost of the system, fertigation studies, etc. We have along way to go to fi nd
out the solutions on regional basis to implement micro irrigation for various crops on
large scale in the country. However, this requires detailed action plan in a phased man-
ner. The country should aim to bring about 20 M-ha under this system in another 15-20
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