By Government Association

Conventionally, canals have been one of the most important mediums of irrigation for agriculture in India. However, the drawback with canals is the en route evaporation of water, which prevents adequate supply of water to the crops, thus increasing the farmer’s dependencies on rain. But, with the government’s intervention in the ongoing situation, things have started to change. The government is now looking out for solutions that would curb the loss of water on account of evaporation, and also ensure that the water is optimally used for agriculture.

While the water-use efficiency in canal-based irrigation is only 30-35%, the government is making efforts to increase it by 20% for irrigation projects. This involves the consideration of techniques like lift irrigation and micro-irrigation. Drip irrigation improves WUE to more than 85%. So, along with the central government, the states like Karnataka, Maharashtra, Haryana, Orissa, Gujarat, Telangana, AP, and MP too have initiated efforts to improve WUE. In this regard, the application of micro irrigation techniques in the command area is found to be improving the WUE.

The application of drip doubles the yield as well improves the quality of the crop. The uniform distribution of water to every inch of the field helps increase the yield, and also reduces the labour cost.

Netafim, the global leaders in agriculture, supports the government’s initiatives on the following aspects.

• Initial feasibility study of the project
• Calculations of water budget, crop water requirement etc
• Designing of entire project
• Estimates & tentative costing of projects
• Guidelines set for formation of Water Users Association, agronomic practices & operational & maintenance methodology
• Training capacity building of all stake holders
• Market linkages with agricultural input & procurement companies