Pointing out that the productivity of irrigated land in the country is reaching the saturation point, ICAR-Central Research Institute for Dryland Agriculture Director V.K. Singh has said that it is time the policymakers must focus on increasing the productivity of dryland.
During his first-ever visit to the Agriculture Research Station at Rekulakunta, which has been working extensively on dryland agriculture, on Tuesday, Mr. Singh said that the benefits of research must reach every farmer in the country to ensure judicious use of the available irrigation water.
Of the 141 million hectares of estimated crop area in the country, close to 80 million hectare is under dryland farming, which is 52% of the total cultivable land, he said.
“There is a need to enlighten the bureaucrats and policymakers about our achievements in the field so that these can be incorporated in planning stage at the national and State levels as there is a vast scope to increase the productivity of dryland agriculture from the current average of 1.2 tonnes per hectare to anywhere close to 2 tonnes,” said Mr. Singh, adding that the productivity of irrigated land is reaching a saturation at 3.2 tonnes per hectare, leaving remote scope for a significant increase beyond this point.
New technologies
“Around 52% of the land under dryland agriculture is producing 44% of the food grain in the country. With some innovative technologies such as sub-surface drip irrigation and cultivating drought-resistant varieties, it is easy to propel the average production to 2 tonnes per hectares, which would dramatically improve foodgrain production,” Mr. Singh told The Hindu .
Citing an example of maize crop, he said a hectare needs only 2.5 lakh litres of water during the crop period. “Anantapur district receives 55 lakh litres per hectare on an average. We need to work on soil mixture retention technologies so that many crops can be grown,” Mr. Singh explained.
Even irrigation-intensive districts such as Baghpath in Punjab that find it difficult to get groundwater or irrigation facilities in some pockets are now turning to grow mustard, barley. The dryland agriculture technologies can come in handy for the farmers there, he said.
Measures such as diversification of crop, inter-cropping and integration of fisheries and animal husbandry can help double farmers’ income, he added.
