New irrigation methods bring cheer to Rajasthan

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New irrigation methods bring cheer to Rajasthan


Commodity Online
JAIPUR: Israel is a country which has used several irrigation techniques successfully and reaped rich harvest from its agricultural fields.

Israel has been an inspiration for several drought-prone countries across the world as they followed the methods used by the Jewish nation to irrigate barren land and cultivate enough food for their population.

In India, Rajasthan is also trying some methods used in Israel to irrigate agricultural fields using minimum water and making maximum profit.

Rajasthan has embraced drip irrigation method in a big way so that the state can save water and irrigate maximum area by using minimum quantity of water.

According to reports, a lot of farmers now grow staple crops through sprinkle irrigation, a technique where water is sprinkled on plants, or water dripped onto their roots instead of flooding them.

Such irrigation is now becoming an indispensable part of the desert state where the water level is as deep as 80 to 100 metres on an average, and goes down by 10 metres every year.

To promote the scientific irrigation method, the state government gives 70 per cent financial support for setting up drip irrigation network.

As a boon to the farmers, Coca-Cola India is also chipping in with financial aid to farmers for this purpose.

There are stories where farmers doubled their income by opting for drip irrigation.

Farmers say more and more of them should be encouraged to switch over to drip irrigation, and private sector firms should also help out in this regard.

Laying a drip irrigation system costs around Rs 1 lakh. With the state government and private firms helping out the farmers in this regard, they have to only put in around 10 per cent of the total costs.

Meticulous use of water, and how to preserve the nature’s most precious gift is a thrust area for this programme.

According to experts, drip irrigation is the answer to the water problem being faced by farmers in Rajasthan and elsewhere.

Coca-Cola has a plant in Kaladera near Jaipur.