Mains Daily Question
March 3, 2022
What are the advantages and major challenges in adopting the micro irrigation system in Indian agriculture?
Micro irrigation is a modern method of irrigation; by this method water is irrigated through drippers, sprinklers, foggers and by other emitters on surface or subsurface of the land. In this system water is applied drop by drop nearer the root zone area of the crop.
The drippers are fixed based on the spacing of crop, most suitable for wider spacing crops.
Advantages of micro irrigation system:
- Water saving and higher yield
- High quality and increased fruit size
- Suitable for all types of soil
- Easy method of fertigation and chemigation
- Saving in labour and field preparation cost
Major challenges of micro irrigation system:
Studies from nine states indicate that adoption of micro-irrigation (MI) technologies - drip and sprinkler systems - has a positive impact in terms of water saving, yield and income enhancement at farm level. However, the overall impression among the farmers is that MI is capital intensive and suited only to large farmers who have Access to capital and technical knowhow.
- Finances remains a major challenge with difficulty in getting necessary supports from financial services
- Lack of awareness on farmer’s part and Lack of reliable guidelines and delay in Government orders
- Inefficiency in implementation as the implementation agency was changed from a dedicated mission to a component part of NMSA under PMKSY
- Unavailability of subsidy funds for installation as subsidy reduced from 50% to 35% and allocation of funds under various schemes is declined
- The main input for an irrigation system is energy, and for large scale projects, only electricity is a viable source which is still beyond the reach of every farmer.
At one hand, where micro-irrigation is the only probable solution for addressing the rising water crisis, on the other hand the industry is struggling for survival given the cash flow challenges. Considering the risks, bottlenecks and alternatives identified, governments in India have to review the current micro-irrigation strategy to avoid chaos in India’s water management.