Drip irrigation gaining ground in Tirupati district

Tirupati: The farmers in Tirupati district were making use of the advantages of drip irrigation well. While the target for drip irrigation for the district was set at 3,705 acres, so far, the equipment was distributed to 4,032 acres with Rs 10 crore subsidy. The state government has been providing drip irrigation equipment to the interested farmers with a subsidy of up to 90 percent. In view of several advantages, more farmers are coming forward to use this method of cultivation.

Water conservation is the major advantage of drip irrigation. It takes less amount of water for cultivation when compared to the traditional methods as the water can be more precisely applied to the plant roots. In the traditional system of cultivation, apart from wastage of water as it has to be flowed on the entire field, there is a problem of getting more weeds and fertilisers cost also will be an additional burden.

The AP Micro Irrigation Project (APMIP) lays its focus mainly on improving water use efficiency apart from other aspects with the ‘per drop – more crop’ concept. The APMIP officials have been encouraging farmers to go for micro irrigation methods and providing necessary guidance and modern equipment. So far, 1,452 farmers in Tirupati district received the micro irrigation equipment.

The officials were saying that small and marginal farmers having less than five acres of land can get the drip irrigation equipment with a subsidy of 90 percent while those having more than five acres of land will get a subsidy of 70 percent. Similarly, sprinklers will be provided to them on 50 percent and 45 percent subsidy respectively. Farmers can easily apply for these equipment by providing the required records through Rythu Bharosa Kendras (RBKs).

District Collector K Venkataramana Reddy said that all farmers should think of making use of the micro irrigation methods to get maximum benefits. The project director of APMIP Sathish said that the idea was to help the farmers in reducing the agriculture expenditure and get maximum yields. A farmer Surendranath Reddy from Buchinaidu Kandriga of Satyavedu constituency said that he paid Rs 25,570 towards his share while the government has provided Rs 1,37,068 drip irrigation equipment. With this, he has been getting profits in chilli cultivation.

Another farmer Jayaramaiah recalled that he was getting poor yield of groundnuts due to water shortage. By shifting to drip irrigation, he could overcome the water problem and get more yields now.