Maize growers opt for drip irrigation

Kulwinder Sandhu

Tribune News Service

Moga, July 9

With the state government promoting drip irrigation for cotton, maize and horticultural crops to conserve groundwater, at least 68 farmers in Moga district have shown interest in cultivating maize using this technique this year.

Chief Agriculture Officer (CAO) Paramjit Singh Brar said the state government had been providing 90 per cent subsidy on the installation of drip irrigation system.

According to an estimate, the installation of drip irrigation system on an acre costs around Rs 1 lakh. As such, a farmer has to pay just Rs 10,000 for installing drip irrigation in the fields.

He said against the target of establishing drip irrigation on 100 acres in the district for maize crop, they have already received applications from 68 farmers to install this system on 114 acres.

He added that apart from maize, the farmers could also cultivate cotton, sugarcane and horticultural crops using this technique, which consumes far less water than the traditional flood irrigation system.

Meanwhile, Dr Jaswinder Singh Brar, Plant Protection Officer of Moga, said, “With the drip irrigation system farmers can irrigate an acre in just 30 minutes, which not only conserves water but also increases crop yield.”

He added, “With drip irrigation the chances of diseases in crops are very less. Besides, the drip irrigation system supplies water as per the requirement and also prevents the growth of weeds in the crops.”

He said using drip irrigation farmers need not spray fertilisers separately. They just need to put fertiliser in a compartment provided in the system, which automatically dissolves the fertiliser in water while irrigating the fields.

Pritpal Singh, a farmer of Badhni Kalan village who registered himself to install the system on his four acres, said, “Maize requires less water and he is hopeful that this technique of conserving water will give good produce as per studies conducted by agro-scientists.”

The Agriculture Department has achieved the target of bringing 2,500 hectares in the district under maize cultivation this year.