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More Production per Drop as Future Demand for Sustainable Agriculture through Water Smart Practices

Suresh Kumar Kakraliya1*, Naveen Kumar1, Sandeep Kumar1, S. S. Kakraliya2, R. D. Jat3, J. M. Sutaliya3and K. K. Chaudhary

1Department of Agronomy, CCS Haryana Agricultural University, Hisar, Haryana, India – 125004

2Sher-E-Kashmir University of Agricultural Sciences and Technology of Kashmir, India 3International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center, India

4Central Arid Zone Research Institute RS Pali, Rajasthan, India

*Email of corresponding author: [email protected]

Introduction Fresh water is one of the most important inputs in agriculture as we all know that the water resources depleting very rapidly due to over exploitation of it with the traditional methods of irrigation. Agriculture is the biggest water consumer. It uses around 70 percent of all freshwater withdrawals worldwide; therefore it is obligatory to achieve more production per drop of water used. It is obvious that with growing population, there will be increasing demand for food and therefore it's crucial to use water in agriculture in the more observant way. Agriculture has to achieve ‘more production per drop' to enhance water productivity. Undoubtedly, the growing water scarcity worldwide for the irrigation purpose made the researchers look for alternatives to lessen water use in crop production and increase the water productivity. With a growing world population, agriculture will face more competition from industrial and domestic water users. This is why agriculture will have to use water more efficiently. Agriculture will have to improve the performance of both irrigated and rainfed production. Smarter water saving agricultural practices and better water management are urgently needed for conserving water resources. Agriculture's potential demand to be unlocked to resolve the existing water problems by using scarce water resources much more efficiently. The technical solution to this is to achieve ‘more crop per drop’. Unless strategic choices in favour of agricultural water management are made, agriculture will not be in a position to maintain necessary water allocations for food produced by irrigation. Optimising the yields from existing crop production would enable farmers to grow more food with similar water availability. The normal cultivation practices for this period are done as usual, while the drip system is still underground. Some of the biggest motivational factors that are forcing changes in the industry are availability and affordability of irrigation water and labour related problems. Under the current economic climate, the battle for survival is becoming more and more intense every day. The need to use every drop

Smarter water saving agricultural practices and better water management are urgently needed for conserving water resources. Agriculture's potential demand to be unlocked to resolve the existing water problems by using scarce water resources much more efficiently. The technical solutions to achieve ‘more crop per drop’ still exist. Unless strategic choices in favour of agricultural water management are made, agriculture will not be in a position to maintain necessary water allocations for food produced by irrigation. Optimising the yields from existing crop production would enable farmers to grow more food with similar water availability.

Popular Kheti Volume -5, Issue-2 (April-June), 2017

Available online at www.popularkheti.com © 2017 popularkheti.com

eISSN: 2321-0001

Popular Kheti ISSN: 2321-0001 72

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of available water becomes a fine art. Water is the most limiting factor and we’re heading for a water shortage in the near future. Local experts and experts from abroad claimed that irrigation efficiency can be increased by about 30%. There is a tendency to mechanise as far as possible, as the pressure is increasing on the labour side. This is possible with an irrigation system that can be installed underground. It is easier to automate the whole operation on the irrigation scheduling. Subsurface drip irrigation systems create the possibility to use water more efficiently. That perhaps makes it a model worth looking at, just when the current Indian government has launched the Pradhan Mantri Krishi Sinchai Yojana that aims at delivering water to every field (Har Khet Ko Pani). It is therefore essential – • To accept that all sources of water (rain, surface water, groundwater and wastewater) are important to

achieve food security where water is scarce. • To create the right policy, institutions and market incentives to increase water use productivity in

agriculture. • To move from supply to demand was driven and service oriented water management, to realise that

rural development may be better served by investments in sectors other than irrigation. The best option depends on the circumstances in each region.

Advanced agricultural practices for more production per drop 1. Surface drip irrigation system In drip irrigation, the water pumped out from a well is first sent through sand separators and media/screen filters to remove silt and impurities such as algae or dead plant matter. This filtered water is, then, applied to the crop via a network of mainline and sub-mainline pipes, valves (that turn on or off the water flow) and smaller diameter poly-tubes or ‘laterals’, which have pre-installed emitters at spaces corresponding with the placement of each plant (Fig 1.). These ensure delivery of water directly to each plant’s root zone and at discharge rates as low as one litre per hour. Drip irrigation systems also have provision for ‘fertigation’ application of fertilizer, in liquefied form from a separate tank, along with the water. “Drip irrigation works well in different crops, where only less water per plant is needed for crop growth period.

Fig 1: General outline for drip irrigation systems

a. Surface drip irrigation with plastic mulch: Among the water management practices for increasing water use efficiency mulching is one of them. Any material spread on the surface of the soil to protect it from solar radiation or evaporation is called mulch. Plastic mulch is recently adopted by farmers


Kakraliya et al., 2017, Pop. Kheti, 5(2): 72-77

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because of the advantages they provide. Surface drip irrigation with plastic mulch is used commercially for both vegetables and small fruit crops (Fig 2). Vegetable crops that are well suited to production with plastic mulch are typically high-value row crops such as tomatoes, peppers, melons, squash, and cucumbers. Although other crops such as sweet corn, snap peas, and pumpkin may benefit from plastic mulch, the increased costs may not be justified.

Fig 2. Drip irrigation with plastic mulch for different crops

b. Drip irrigation system without mulch: Drip irrigation is the practice of applying small amounts of

water uniformly across a specific area. The water is delivered directly to the crop root zone, eliminating runoff, evaporation, and drift. A properly designed and managed drip irrigation system



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gives producers the best uniformity and application efficiency available, consequently saving them time, energy, and water, all while maximizing yields (Fig. 3).

Fig 3. Surface drip irrigation system

2. Subsurface drip irrigation Subsurface drip irrigation (SSD) is the irrigation of crops through buried plastic tubes containing embedded emitters located at regular spacing. It is a specialised subset of drip irrigation where dripline or drip tape “lateral lines” (tubes buried beneath the crop rows) and supply and flushing “sub-mains” (pipes supplying water to the lateral lines) are buried beneath the soil surface for multiyear use. There are wide varieties of configurations and equipment used, however drip tubes are adjusted accordance with the root zone of crops below the soil surface (Fig 4). The SSD applies water directly to the crop root zone using buried polyethene tubing, also known as a dripline, dripper line, or drip tape. There are three different depth of placing the subsurface drip irrigation system –

Shallow root crops – 0.5–10 cm deep Medium root crops – 10–25 cm deep Deep root crops – deeper than 25 cm

Subsurface drip irrigation provides the ultimate in water use efficiency for open field agriculture, often resulting in water savings of 25–50% compared to flood irrigation. The use of SSD offers many other advantages for crop production, including less nitrate leaching compared to surface irrigation, higher yields, a dry soil surface for improved weed control and crop health, the ability to apply water and nutrients to the most active part of the root zone, protection of drip lines from damage due to cultivation and other operations, and the ability to safely irrigate with waste water while preventing human contact.



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Fig. 4: Sub-surface drip in wheat (a), rice (b) and maize (c) crops Constraints using SSD systems • No deep ploughing for pest control. • Damage to SSD systems under wet soil moisture conditions during harvesting processes. • Crop cultivation is restricted to specific row spacing. • Limited information about implements and cultivation practices. • Thin wall products are subject to rodent and insect damages. • The danger of potential root intrusion into the drippers. • The danger of mud sucked into the drippers. • Salinity accumulation on the top of the soil. • Improper maintenance – will result in clogging build-up. • “Back Pressure” • Roots “choking” the laterals. Spreading technologies efficient in water use and economically flexible • Already successful technologies have been developed by different institutes in different agroecological

regions and they need to be upscaled to benefit the larger community. For example, in Madhya Pradesh in 2 mha water logged regions, with the broad bed and furrow (BBF), short duration soybean cultivars like Samrat along with balanced nutrient management options and minimum tillage for chickpea/wheat crops could double farmers' incomes and minimize land degradation. In Indo Gangetic Plains (IGP),

a b

c



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simple seed priming technique i.e. soaking chickpea seeds in water and micronutrient solution for six hours and drying in shade could establish good chickpea crop in rice fallow areas and increase crop production and incomes by using residual soil moisture. This technology can be applied in 12 mha rice fallows in India spread in MP, Odisha, Jharkhand, West Bengal and Chhattisgarh.

• In Kashmir region, micro-irrigation @ 70m3/ha in 10'irrigations during reproductive period increases the productivity of saffron by over 50%. Apple yield can be increased to more than 40t/ha using pressurised irrigation system in areas. Strawberry under low-cost playhouse matured 45 days earlier than outdoors and productivity increases substantially.

• In Tamil Nadu, a precision farming approach involving drip and fertigation and pit method of irrigation in sugarcane increased the yield and income of the crops by 20%. In Gujarat, G-9 variety of drilled paddy increased the crop productivity to 2.5 tonnes/ha with high water use efficiency. In the coastal regions, about 10 million ha are water logged in coastal Odisha, Andhra Pradesh, West Bengal and Bihar. Digging out aquaculture ponds raised about 35% of the area under embankment by 11.5 meters. Growing fish and prawn in dugout ponds and fruits and vegetables in embankments and rice in part of the farm increased the water productivity up to 7 times.

Scope of Water Smart Practices Under Rainfed and Irrigated Agriculture Rainfed agriculture • In the more humid regions where some 60% of the world’s food crops are being grown, rain is the

source of water for crop production. Rainfed agriculture takes place on some 80% of the arable land. In dry areas, rainwater harvesting (terraces and bunds, small dams, etc.) can both reduce risks and increase yields. There is significant scope for increasing rainfed production provided appropriate investments in technology, institution building and research are made. Based on smart water practices there is an opportunity to sustain water resources in long term by applying irrigation only at critical stages of crop growth.

Irrigated agriculture • Irrigation is crucial to the world’s food supplies and is expected to increase further. Irrigation makes up

only 20% of the total arable land in developing countries but produces around 40% of all crops. Developing countries are expected to increase their irrigated area from currently 205 million ha to 242 million ha by 2030. Water withdrawal for irrigation in developing countries is projected to increase by 14% by 2030. There is still scope for expanding irrigation to meet future needs. If advanced irrigation technologies are fine-tuned with the prevailing condition, available water resources and management skills there will be great scope for further increase in the agriculture production.

Conclusion Smart water practices offered alternative options with prevailing traditional flood irrigation practice for the overall boost of system productivity by more production per drop. Practices have great potential in sustaining the resource based on future generation and improved WUE due to consumption of less water. However, integrated use of drip irrigation and plastic mulch was more appropriate and profitable. Therefore, drip irrigation in combination with plastic mulch was found to be more efficient irrigation method in improving WUE and increasing crop yield.



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