Methods Of Water Proofing

PRESENT STATUS OF THE SYSTEM IN INDIA

(Click to enlarge)

The area under drip irrigation had had grown from a negligible level in 1975 to around 1200 ha. In 1985 . From 1985 to date there has been a five fold increase in the area irrigated by drip. Presently, the area under the drip irrigation in the country is estimated as about 9000 ha. Which as compared to world standards is still low.

Tamil Nadu, Maharashtra and Karnataka are some of the states which have taken a lead in introducing this method constituting 39.7% , 28% and 24.3% respectively of the total area covered under drip . In Karnataka coconut is the major crop grown under drip whereas in Maharashtra sugarcane, grapes and other horticulture crops are the major ones..

Experiments on a number of crops like tomato, cucumber, muskmelon, pepper, sweet corn etc have shown that in all cases, the yields under drip irrigation far exceeded those under sprinkler or furro irrigation. In some cases the yields are even more than double even though the quantity of water applied to a particular crop was more on large areas in our Country which are arid or those in Israel where drip irrigation has been successfully practiced. For example, in North Gujarat, Saurashtra and Kutch region there are large tracts of sandy soils. The ground water in North Gujarat and the little Rann is known to highly saline and similar parts of Rajasthan. Irrigation efficiency in drip system is adjudged to be more than 90% as compared to about 65% to 70 % in the case of sprinkler and about 50% or so in the case of lined distribution network of conventional surface methods of irrigation. This in itself indicates the quantum of saving of water which is possible under the extreme water shortage conditions as occur during droughts.