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Success of Drip in India: An Example to the Third World
S. K. Suryawanshi
The sixties saw the rapid development of agriculture in India
through the intensive use of modern agricultural inputs such as water energy, fertilizer,
chemicals, and high-yielding crop varieties. The input-based strategy was successful in
that the agricultural production increased three-fold during the past four decades. But
predominant use of water and chemicals resulted in a paradoxical situation in which soils
in the Northern Plains turned saline, whereas in the South, the water table went down due
to excessive pumping. Both shallow and deep water tables affected agricultural
productivity to a point of stagnation.
In the late eighties, drip irrigation gained popularity with
its inherent advantages like saving water and use in problematic soil. Various research
institutes conducted experiments on drip irrigation and made people aware of its benefits.
Some manufacturers also conducted their own studies first by importing the materials
before venturing into commercial production of drip systems. The farming community
ususally believes only after personally observing the benefits. Today, more than a 60,700
hectare are is brought under irrigation convering more than 30 crops. Farmers from various
places communicated their experiences of drip irrigation on various crops like sugarcane,
cotton, grapes, banana, pomegranate, vegetables, tea, ber*, flowers, etc. The increase in
yield as compared to conventional irrigation methods is from 20 to 100 %, whereas saving
in water ranges from 40% to 70%.
The results achieved by drip irrigation in a developing
country like India can show many third world countries optimum utilization of resources
for increased agricultural production.
Keywords: Drip (micro) irrigation, agriculture, farmer,
water, yield
Abstract taken from paper found on pages 347 to 352 in
Proceedings of 5th International Microirrigation Congress, April 2-6, 1995, Orlando,
Florida. American Society of Agricultural Engineers, 2950 Niles Road, St. Joseph, Michigan
49085-9659, USA. Phone: 616-429-0300, FAX: 616-429-3852 E-mail:HQ@ASAE.ORG
Additional information from the paper.
India needs to feed more than 1 billion people by the year
2000. An increase of 80 million tons of food grain will be needed in less than a decade (a
50 % increase). There are 140 million arable hectares (346 million acres) in India with
41.2 million hectares (102 million acres) being irrigated. The 60,700 hectares (150,000
acres) under drip quoted in the abstract represents merely 0.15% of the irrigated area.
Other interesting factors mentioned were: In India using drip
irrigation, labor savings up to 50 - 60 % can be found, poor quality water and soils can
be used, fertilizer savings of up to 30 % are being observed.
Specific crops with noted yield increases and water savings:
Banana (52% yield increase, 45% water savings)
Grapes (23% yield increase, 48% water savings)
Sweet lime (50% yield increase, 61% water savings)
Pomegranate (98% yield increase, 45% water savings)
Sugarcane (33% yield increase, 56% water savings)
Tomato (50% yield increase, 39% water savings)
Watermelon (88% yield increase, 36% water savings)
Cotton (27% yield increase, 53% water savings)
Papaya (75% yield increase, 68% water savings)
Sweet potato (39% yield increase, 60% water savings)
If anyone has additional information about developing
countries using drip irrigation, please feel free to contribute
by Richard Mead |