Irrigation farming issues in declining land and its prevention

Water is life.  Water is an indispensable factor in the nurture, maintenance, and development of the entire universe.  About 97.5 percent of our earth's surface is brackish seawater, and the remaining 2.5 percent is water as surface water and groundwater.  About 2.5% of the water that is in the polar regions is covered by ice, 69% of which is groundwater and soil moisture and only 30% is in lakes, rivers, wetlands which are for living as well as the environment.  Is available.  In the last 70 years, the world's population has more than tripled from two billion to 7.6 billion today.  Water consumption has also increased 6 times due to the development in agriculture and industry to meet the living needs of this population.  This is disturbing the balance between human demand and supply for water at present, which has resulted in water scarcity in 31 countries of the world, including India.

If there is one main source of water it is rain.  During the monsoon season, the average annual rainfall in India is 1100 mm.  As much rain.  This rain falls during 100 days of monsoon.  But it is unfortunate that 50% of this average rainfall falls in just 15 days of monsoon.  In addition, the amount of rainfall varies greatly depending on the time and place.  E.g.  The average annual rainfall in Rajasthan is 10 mm.  It's raining.  While in Meghalaya / Cherrapunji 12000 M.M.  The amount of annual rainfall is recorded.  Generally in our country 1100 M.M., The average annual rainfall is about 400 billion cubic meters of water per year.  But due to the great variation in rainfall, it becomes very difficult to maintain rainwater sources.

Compared to the rest of the world, India has only 2.3 percent land and only 4 percent freshwater against 16 percent of the total population.  About 80 percent of India's total available water goes to agriculture, 6 percent to industry, 4 percent to energy, 4 percent to domestic consumption, and the remaining 6 percent to other uses.  Thus, even though most of the freshwater goes to agriculture, its efficiency is very low and if the irrigation system in agriculture is not radically changed, the per capita water availability will be reduced from 6008 cubic meters in 1947 to only 750 cubic meters in 2025.

The situation in Gujarat is even worse.  In Gujarat, water resources like groundwater, lakes, wells, etc. are very limited.  In the state of Gujarat, close efforts have been made for the development of water resources.  The state of Gujarat is divided into a total of 185 river discharge sections.  The state has the capacity to irrigate a total area of ​​64.88 lakh hectares.  But at present, a total area of ​​30.32 lakh hectares is under irrigation.  Under Saada Sarovar Yojana, additional 18 lakh hectares will be irrigated.  About 80% of this area is underground water and only 20% of the area is under irrigation.

If we look at the district-wise percentage of irrigated areas in Gujarat, Gandhinagar district has the highest irrigated area.  With the exception of Dangs, Bharuch, Surendranagar, and Kutch districts have less than 20% irrigated area.  According to sources of irrigation, 100% of the area in Gandhinagar and Dang districts is irrigated by groundwater whereas in Surat district 80% of irrigation is done through canal water.  In addition, if the irrigated crop is to be used, the area is mainly under food and oilseed crops.

Most of the groundwater in the state is used for irrigation in Mehsana, Banaskanth, and Gandhinagar districts, as a result of which the balance of water storage and use is disturbed.  On average, the groundwater level in this area drops day by day every year.  As a result, water quality is deteriorating.  According to a recent survey, 5.48 percent of the total groundwater in the state is alkaline, while 4.11 percent and 14.79 percent are polluted with nitrate and chloride, respectively.

Against this, farmers in the Ukai Kakrapar irrigated area of ​​South Gujarat started planting paddy and sugarcane which required more water instead of a systemic, and suggested a cropping system.  Its area has also been increasing year by year.  E.g.  According to the proposed cropping system, the sheds which were to be planted in only 10 percent of the area, are cultivated in 60 percent of the area.  As a result, sugarcane crop production has declined by 45-50 percent and paddy crop by an estimated 50-55 percent.  Not only this, with the help of this flow 30-35% of water is wasted.

Thus, with the increase of industrial and urban growth in post-independence India, the area under arable land has been reduced.  This raises the issue of drainage due to excessive irrigation in the land adopted by the farmers for intensive cultivation in irrigated lands.  So along with the decline in crop production, the problem of diseases and pests has also arisen.  To address these issues, efficient use of water and more land being covered under irrigation should be considered.

At present, only 1.6 percent (43 lakh hectares) of the total irrigated area in our country is under micro-irrigation.  Of these, only nine states cover 74% of the area under micro-irrigation.  In Gujarat till the year 2015-16, out of approximately 3 lakh under drip irrigation and 4 lakh under sprinkler irrigation, a micro-irrigation system has been adopted by farmers in a total area of ​​about 8 lakh hectares.

Given the use of irrigation in agriculture in India, there is a huge potential for the adoption of drip and sprinkler systems to increase the efficiency of irrigation as well as to cover more areas under irrigation.  This requires technical knowledge of drip and sprinkler irrigation systems, information on government assistance schemes and their effective implementation.

In addition, the central government has launched 'Pradhan Mantri Krishi Sinchai Yojana' across the country from the year 2015-16 with the motto of 'Every farmer has water', keeping in view the ideology that every drop of water is precious.

Under this scheme, all possible options for ensuring maximum utilization of available water resources to prevent floods and droughts, including the interconnection of river flows where possible, seriously consider the use of rainwater by 'water storage' and 'irrigation'.  Covering various works like water conservation groundwater recharge breeding and watershed development.  The scheme consists of four components.  (1) a.  I.  B.P.  (Accelerated Irrigation Benefit Program) (2) Har Khetko Pani (3) Watershed Development (4)  Drop More Crop.

Irrigation questions and their prevention:

Irrigation accounts for about 50% of agricultural production.  Unscientific use of irrigated water in addition to water consumption affects soil health as well as nutrient availability, which in turn reduces crop yields.  It is therefore advisable to take the following steps to resolve the issues arising out of excessive irrigation.

(1) To make efforts for implementation of micro irrigation by the farming community.

(2) Encourage the use of natural and synthetic mulching for moisture storage.

(3) To adopt agricultural expertise to increase the efficiency of water use by providing irrigation water at a specific time and places as per the requirement of the crop and to organize more training programs for the benefit of the farmers.

(4) Use mobile expertise to manage irrigation at a specific time through proper method of irrigation so as to increase the efficiency of irrigation.

(5) Proper field planning for irrigation water consumption so that irrigation water is available in all the farms under the irrigated area.

(6) Use of suitable micro-irrigation system recommended in vegetables and other field crops.

The steps to be taken by farmers:

(1) Farmers should use a micro-irrigation system instead of the Relavi irrigation system.

(2) Use of organic waste as mulch in crops.

(3) Adoption of irrigation experts and recommended irrigation practices to suit the place and crop.

(4) Adopt field management recommendations as required for uniform and reliable irrigation.

(5) Conserve irrigation water by adopting recommended micro-irrigation in sugarcane, banana as well vegetables, and other crops.

(6) To solve the problem of 40% more production and disease and pest by saving 25% of water by implementing Mr. Paddy's system of paddy by farmers.

Thus, irrigation at the right time, in the right amount, and in the right manner stops soil degradation and also prevents water wastage, saves water, maintains soil, alleviates the problem of pests and weeds.  Due to this every drop of water reduces the cost of farming and yields more.