Small farmer earns huge profits with drip irrigation

Bukkarayasamudram (Anantapur): A small farmer Narasimhudu of Sanjeevapuram village in Bukkarayasamudram mandal made waves and baffled everyone by switching on to drip irrigation for raising green chilly crop in his one-hectare land and registering a net income of Rs 23 lakh after deducting expenses incurred for raising the crop.

The farmer, who was accustomed to the traditional irrigation system switched on to drip irrigation and registered highest crop yield, and profit on an unprecedented scale, when compared to his past farm performance. The shy farmer Narasimhudu talking to ‘The Hans India’ stated that prior to switching on to drip irrigation, he earned a net income of Rs 8.62 lakh on a yield of 46 tonnes per hectare while the same one-hectare land has yielded him 90 tonnes under the drip irrigation system.

The cost of cultivation per hectare under the traditional irrigation method was Rs 1.5 lakh and under drip Rs 2.5 lakh. With the drip irrigation system, the yield increased to more than double shooting up his income and profits to astounding levels. The net income shot up from Rs 8.62 lakh to Rs 20.5 lakh.

The farmer said that APMIP had supplied drip irrigation systems with 90 percent subsidy and with his just 10 percent contribution. Assistant Project Director Vijayashankar Reddy speaking to 'The Hans India' said that small and marginal farmers are ushering in a silent revolution by switching on to drip irrigation which adequately caters to water requirements of the crop giving no scope to wastage of water or flooding the crops with excess water, thus bringing down the yield.

He said that Narasimhudu is one example of the success stories of small farmers having one acre to one hectare of land. Narasimhudu is elated at the crop blessing him with such a big amount of money he had never seen in his life. He is also shying away from publicity due to fear of being victimised by co-farmers out of jealousy.

By Ravi P Benjamin