Drip irrigation provides succour to Anantapur dist

Devendrapuram (Kalyanadurgam): It is said that little drops of water make an ocean but application of drip irrigation has proved that little drops of water can make an ocean of difference, especially in a district which is haunted with series of droughts and climatic conditions naturally hostile to the people for over 100 years. An erratic monsoon every year had turned the farmers towards drip irrigation which helped in optimum utilisation of scarce water sources and in scientific supply of water to crops.

B. Vale Naik holding one hectare of land in Devendrapuram hamlet in Kalyandurg mandal was on the losing side as he depended much on rains to cultivate groundnut crop as his bore-well was giving poor water yields. Naik speaking to ‘The Hans India’ said he could not get sufficient returns on his groundnut crop. Leave alone profits, he could not even get back the investment made on his groundnut and red gram cultivation, Naik said.

With a family to take care and children to be educated, he was looking for miracles to happen when Andhra Pradesh Micro Irrigation Project (APMIP) personnel visited their hamlet and educated them on adopting drip irrigation and on ways and means of preserving scarce water resources.

Naik revealed that until then the farmers had a notion that abundance of water is required for crops and the more the crops are watered the more yields would grow. Subsequently Naik opted for drip irrigation and he decided to try it to come out of his financial distress. He installed drip irrigation by approaching the APMIP and availed 90 percent subsidy for drip installation. All he had to contribute was just Rs.10, 000 and 90 percent subsidy was extended by the APMIP.

Prior to the installation of drip irrigation he did not have enough water in the single borewell he had. With limited water by cultivation of groundnut, He was not able to get back the production cost and his economical condition was very poor. In this condition he was not in a position to provide minimum education to his children.

APMIP organised awareness campaigns and motivated the farmer to go for drip installation with assistance from APMIP by providing Rs.90, 000 as assistance on unit cost.After installation of the drip last year, Naik said that he took up cultivation of Muskmelon crop and got net returns of Rs. 2, 82, 500 from 1.00 Ha land with the limited water available with him. This amazing amount of money he says he had never earned anytime in the past.

He extended cultivation area to two more acres with the same borewell and is now planning to cultivate other vegetables and melons and short duration fruit crops like banana and papaya. In the past Naik stated that he used to ponder over his wasted crop lands and weep over his helplessness but the drip irrigation was an eye opener and surely the little drops of water did make an ocean of difference to him, his family and people of his hamlet.

APMIP project director Venkateswarlu told ‘The Hans India’ that due to a concerted awareness campaign unleashed by his department on the judicious use of limited water sources and by dispelling false notions that excessive use of water only would guarantee higher yields, the farmers were convinced that the scarce water resources should be used scientifically on the lines of Israel which is far ahead of others in water conservation measures.

Today a drip revolution is sweeping the district and no wonder the district stands first in application of drip irrigation. He said that the action plan proposed for drip irrigation for the new fiscal 2017-18 is 1,332.50 hectares which will be brought under drip, he added.

By Ravi P Benjamin