Study: Drip irrigation uses 58% less water

Vishal Joshi

Tribune News Service

Kurukshetra, November 6

A field experiment by the Command Area Development Authority (CADA) has shown that drip irrigation through a solar-based micro-irrigation system uses 58 per cent less water as compared to the conventional form of paddy cultivation.

Sharing the details of the field trials with The Tribune, CADA authorities said that per acre yield of PR-114 variety of rice in the farms irrigated under drip irrigation was recorded between 24.27 and 27.83 quintals.

Project coordinator and CADA executive engineer Neeraj Sharma said a pilot project was being initiated at Dera Fateh Singh village near Pehowa in the district.

Launched in 2017 under the Pradhan Mantri Krishi Sinchayee Yojana (PMKSY), it was for the first time in the country that solar-based micro-irrigation system was used to ensure water supply to every farm.

He said the experiment was being conducted in an area spread over nine acres, offered voluntarily by progressive farmers.

Sharma said three methods of irrigation were used in the experiment. “Under the guidance of experts, we used three methods of transplanting the paddy seeds, i.e. traditional method of manual transplanting, mechanical transplanting and direct seeding. Results clearly indicated that drip irrigation not only produces handsome yield but the technique can also save enormous amount of water,” Sharma said.

A senior scientist at the Rice Research Station of Chaudhary Charan Singh Haryana Agricultural University, Kaul village, Kaithal, said the field inputs were “highly encouraging for water conservation”.

The expert, who wished not to be named, said about 1.11 crore litres of water was required to irrigate one acre of paddy under the traditional flood irrigation system.

Field report 

• An experiment was being conducted in nine acres offered voluntarily by progressive farmers.
• Three methods of transplanting paddy was used — the traditional one, the mechanical transplantation and direct seeding
• Results show drip irrigation not only produces a handsome yield, but it can also save an enormous amount of water, say project coordinator Neeraj Sharma