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Micro irrigation scheme in for a major boost
He said that the target for the year 2016-17 under the NABARD project is 2.23 Lakh acres allotted to all the districts in the state and added that remaining 89,000 acres will be covered in the year 2017-18.
Hyderabad: In what can be termed as a fillip to the micro irrigation scheme, the Government of Telangana has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (NABARD) here on Monday for release of Rs 874 crore as a loan to Telangana Horticulture Development Corporation to cover the 3.15 lakh acres under micro irrigation scheme for the years 2016-17 and 2017-18.
During the agreement Telangana's secretary, Agriculture Parthasarathi stated that agriculture in the state is rainfed and about 42.82 lakh acres depend on borewells for irrigation. He added that due to change in climatic conditions the groundwater level has been decreasing and it is the need of the hour for the farmer to use micro irrigation. According to him, the use of micro irrigation not only saves water but also enhances yield, saves input cost, controls weeds, improves fertilizer efficiency, prevents soil erosion, minimises diseases and pest problems.
Since the inception of the scheme in 2003 about 13.75 lakh acres are covered under micro irrigation and 29.05 lakh acres are yet to be covered. He said that the target for the year 2016-17 under the NABARD project is 2.23 Lakh acres allotted to all the districts in the state and added that remaining 89,000 acres will be covered in the year 2017-18. He also said that the Government has decided to accept the applications of the beneficiaries through mee seva to promote transparency.
Having 4606 mee seva centers where the farmer can apply through bio-metric and details of the farmer linked with the Aadhaar portal allows the scheme to reach actual beneficiaries. He added that the farmer might carry aadhaar card, land documentation 1(B) form and caste certificate for applying through mee seva. Later the application would be verified and according to seniority field level primary inspection, bench mark survey, BoQ (Bill Of Quantities) will be done and finally the equipment will be sanctioned to the beneficiary by geo tagging it, according to him.
The agreement was signed by C Parthasarathi, Venkat Ram Reddy, Commissioner, Department of Horticulture and Sericulture, Sudhakar, DGM, APEDA, Ravinder Reddy, Registrar, Telangana Horticulture university on behalf of Telangana Government. On behalf of NABARD the agreement was signed by Dr. Radhakrishnan, Chief Managing Director, Regional NABARD, Hyderabad, and Telangana State NABARD DGM Mr. CSR Murthy.
The Horticulture Deputy Director Madhusudhan, Micro Irrigation project Deputy Director Bhagya Laxmi, Horticulture Development Corporation Manager Subhashini, and others were also present .
