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The top ten States in micro-irrigation have a share of over 70 per cent in the total area of 83.46 lakh hectares (lh) coverage recorded during the past nine years under a government scheme aimed at boosting assured water supply in area not reached by canal irrigation, the government said in Parliament.
In a reply in the Lok Sabha, Agriculture Minister Arjun Munda said on Tuesday that an area of 83.46 lh has been covered under micro-irrigation in the country with release of Central assistance of ₹19,363.20 crore to the States through the Per Drop More Crop (PDMC) scheme from 2015-16 till date.
Official data show that Karnataka topped the chart with a coverage of 18.02 lh followed by Tamil Nadu with 10.98 lh, Maharashtra with 9.38 lh and Rajasthan 7.08 lh. Madhya Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh and Telangana have captured additional over 3 lh, each under micro irrigation. Haryana has reported an area of nearly 1.7 lh while West Bengal and Odisha created close to 1 lh, each.
58 irrigation projects completed
He also informed the House that after 99 on-going major and medium irrigation projects in the country were prioritised in 2016-17 under Pradhan Mantri Krishi Sinchayee Yojana (PMKSY) for completion in phases, 58 projects have been completed, including four projects recently. This has created an additional irrigation potential of 25.11 lh, he added.
He also said nine more projects have been included under PMKSY’s Accelerated Irrigation Benefit Programme (AIBP) from 2021-22 onwards for completion, which were not in the list of 99 projects.
The Department of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare has implemented the Centrally Sponsored Scheme (CSS) PDMC from 2015-16 to 2021-22 under PMKSY. However, from 2022-23, the PDMC scheme is being implemented under the Rashtriya Krishi Vikas Yojana (RKVY).
PDMC scheme focuses on enhancing water use efficiency at farm level through micro irrigation – drip and sprinkler Irrigation systems. Under this, the government pays a subsidy of 55 per cent of the project cost to small and marginal farmers and 45 per cent to other farmers. Some States provide additional subsidy over and above the Centre’s assistance for encouraging farmers to adopt micro-irrigation.
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