Towards achieving more crop & income per drop of water DR. M.S. SWAMINATHANAN PRESENTED REPORT ON “MORE CROP AND INCOME PER DROP OF WATER” TO PROF. SOZ
	16:54 IST

An Artificial Recharge of Ground Water Advisory Council has been constituted under the chairmanship of Prof. Saifuddin Soz, the Union Minister of Water Resources. The first meeting of the Council was held on 22nd July, 2006 which was inaugurated by the Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh. In the inaugural address, the Prime Minister had mentioned that “ We have to minimize our water use - invest in Science and Technology to ensure that we can grow crops which use less water. In other words find ways of valuing the crop per drop”. To implement the suggestions made by the Prime Minister, a Sub Committee was constituted under the Chairmanship of Dr. M.S. Swaminathan, the eminent Agricultural Scientist. The committee consisted of representatives of Ministry of Agriculture, Ministry of Rural Development, National Fisheries Development Board, CGWB, CWC, Confederation of Indian Industries ( CII) and Agricultural Scientists from IARI, CRIDA, CAZRI, ICRISAT and State / Central Agricultural Universities/Industries. The Committee finalized its report within the period of two months as requested. Dr. M. S. Swaminathan presented his report on “more crop and income per drop of water to Prof. Saifuddin Soz, the Union Minister of Water Resources on 2nd October, 2006. He chose 2nd October the birth anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi to remind ourselves of the eternal truth behind Gandhiji’s statement “ Nature provides for everybody’s needs, but not for everyone’s greed”. On this day we dedicate ourselves to replacing the spread of greed revolution with evergreen revolution based on the principle of Jal Swaraj. The Report gives details of implementable Action Plans incorporating technologies along with their economics. The steps that can be taken for Rabi crop have been highlighted so that action can begin from the ensuing Rabi Season itself. He expressed the hope that the government will accept the recommendations of the Sub Committee which will go a long way in creating agricultural output and resultant income of the farmers. In order to implement the recommendations, a 3-tier setup at Village, State and National level has been suggested. At National level a Pan Government of India Steering Committee consisting of representatives of various Departments associated with irrigation, agriculture as well as Planning Commission, Finance, NABARD, Mass Media etc. has been suggested. The Steering Committee may report to Agricultural Coordination Committee, chaired by the Prime Minister. The important recommendations of the Sub- Committee are as under: System of Rice Intensification technology (SRI) which requires less quantity of seeds, less nursery area, saves water and labour and enhances yield covering rice and other crops like sugarcane, should be popularized. Techniques like, aerobic and upland rice technologies should also be expanded wherever possible. Micro Irrigation technology e.g. drip and sprinkler irrigation including drip fertigation to increase productivity of crops with less water should also be popularized with adequate support from the Government. Needed credit facilities should be available to the farmers to pay for the equipments. Crop diversification with high value but less water requiring crops and multiple uses of water to enhance crop yield and income of the farmers should be promoted. Hence demonstration and adaptive research programmes will be very useful.. Farmers should be provided adequate support for marketing and access to market information. Suitable farming models should be encouraged and experimented with farmer’s participation. Introduction of weather based crop insurance protection for minimizing the losses to farmer has been recommended. A credit linked development plan for homogeneous area can be prepared in coordination with banks, farmers, traders, processors, exporters, NGOs, Panchayats and Government Development Departments. Adequate provisioning has been recommended in Eleventh Plan for inclusion of the measures for augmentation of water supply. For the demand management side, provisions for micro irrigation techniques like drip/ sprinkler including drip fertigation, system of rice intensification technique, improving soil health, weather based crop insurance, market improvement and capacity building will be included. To keep pace with the future demand, a research network on biotechnology and water security has also been recommended. Given the strategies and their importance in improving the productivity and income per unit of water, concrete action plans are needed. Hence, year 2007-08 should be declared as the year of “More Crop and Income per Drop of Water” with the simultaneous implementation of 5000 Farmer Participatory Action Research Programmes spread throughout the country covering all agro- climatic zones with the help of Agricultural Universities, Research Institutes, KVKs etc. SK/BS