Irrigation

Featured Articles
August 10, 2022 The irrigation at all costs mindset and narrow policies for drought protection during the colonial rule ignored rainfed agriculture and local practices that sustained agriculture in the Bombay Deccan. This continues even today.
Recurrent droughts and the struggle for survival (Image Source: Gaurav Bhosale via Wikimedia Commons):
August 9, 2022 Ensuring irrigation through farm ponds in tribal Chhattisgarh
Many tribal farmers opted for individual farm ponds under MGNREGA ensuring protective irrigation. (Image: Meenakshi Singh)
April 8, 2022 Lack of governance and six toothless irrigation acts have done very little to change the water situation on the ground in Maharashtra, argues water expert Pradeep Purandare.
Peanut irrigation in India (Image Source: Seratobikiba via Wikimedia Commons)
March 11, 2022 Subsidies enable tribal farmers to adopt micro-irrigation systems providing them assured irrigation
A key mitigation strategy to deal with water scarcity due to climate change is on-farm management of water using techniques like micro-irrigation (Image: India Water Portal Flickr)
September 17, 2021 Benefits of well-managed commons on livelihoods
Collective efforts revived the canal structure of Bichhiya dam bringing water to the village (Image: Foundation for Ecological Security)
August 29, 2021 Experience of Aga Khan Rural Support Programme (India) in revitalizing the traditional phad irrigation system in hilly tribal villages of Western Madhya Pradesh
Community members contribute voluntary labour required for laying the pipeline network and tank construction (Image: Anjali Aggarwal)
India surges ahead in science and technology
India has made significant contributions in the field of science and technology. It is expected to grow in the years to come. Posted on 14 Aug, 2017 08:19 PM

As India completes 70 years of its independence, let’s take a moment to introspect the contribution of science and technology to national development. Several scientific and technological developments have touched the lives of common people, though limelight is often hogged by achievements in fields like space and atomic energy.

The blue revolution changed the way India looked at its marine wealth. (Source: IWP Flickr photos)
Bad times at Baddi
Unless industries clean up their act and authorities take it up seriously, Baddi’s water will continue to be polluted causing hardship to its residents. Posted on 09 Aug, 2017 05:59 AM

When Satya Devi was a child, the open well near her house in the village of Malku Majra was the water source for the household. She reminisces, “The water was clean and soft. The well would never go dry.

The state pollution control board insists that none of the factories in the area allow any pollutants to be discharged into the environment. The state of the surface water bodies, however, belies this statement.
Playing the soil health card
Is the soil health card scheme introduced to improve the economic condition of the farmers by bettering the health of the soil effective? Posted on 01 Aug, 2017 11:49 AM

Decades of skating over environmental concerns have clearly cost us dear. The folly of pursuing better crop yields using chemical fertilisers in an indiscriminate manner has been surfacing lately. “Decades of agricultural abuse using fertilisers, herbicides and pesticides have taken its toll on us.

The electrical conductivity of a diluted soil sample is being tested as a measure of soil salinity. (Image:CSIRO, Wikimedia Commons; CC Attribution 3.0 Unported)
How a poor labourer became a rich farmer
A video tells the story of a poor farmer who, through effective water conservation methods, became rich and a role model to other villagers. Posted on 27 Jul, 2017 07:59 PM

Vasant Baburao Parkale, a 52-year-old farmer, has become a role model for many farmers in the drought-prone Marathwada region. His determination and the will to excel in life have helped him to transform his dreams into reality.

Vasantrao Parkale (Source: India Water Portal)
Maharashtra mandates drip irrigation for sugarcane
Policy matters this week Posted on 25 Jul, 2017 04:32 PM

Maharashtra cabinet decides on drip irrigation for sugarcane cultivation 

A sugarcane farm (Source: IWP Flickr photos)
What ails Indian farmers
A study finds faulty agricultural policies and practices and not just indebtedness to blame for rising suicides among farmers. Posted on 24 Jul, 2017 08:03 PM

Over the last few months, we saw protests by distressed farmers of Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh and other states over farming crisis and farmer suicides.

Loans are not the only reason for farmers' distress. (Source: India Water Portal)
‘Recycling is the answer to India’s water woes’
Water expert Dr Sharad Jain believes that unless India adopts recycling of water in an organised manner, the country will soon become water scarce. Posted on 22 Jul, 2017 09:55 AM

The per capita availability of water in India is going down progressively and the situation may become precarious unless the country takes measures like the recycling of water in an organised manner, warns Dr Sharad Jain, director gener

Recycling of water is the way forward. (Source: IWP Flickr photos)
Locals create hurdle for the Ken-Betwa river link
News this week Posted on 11 Jul, 2017 11:36 AM

Panna locals stand against Ken-Betwa river link

A map of Ken-Betwa river link. (Source: Shannon via Wikipedia)
Saving soil health
The government’s nutrient-based subsidy has done more harm to the soil than good. Only sustainable agriculture can save the nutrient and water holding capacity of the soil. Posted on 01 Jul, 2017 10:21 PM

Bhanu is bracing herself for an income loss this year. The wheat she sowed after bajra in winter did not give her the productivity expected. Her soil health is declining, she says. To top it all, she is afraid there will be deficient rainfall this year in her village in Ferozepur Jhirka in Mewat in Haryana.

Farmers thresh paddy during harvest at Sangrur, Punjab. (Source: Neil Palmer, CIAT, 2011, Wikimedia Commons)
Every drop that matters!
A short film provides insight into the water sector situation in the Marathwada region in Maharashtra. Posted on 27 Jun, 2017 10:12 PM

The people of the Marathwada region have been facing severe water crisis for more than three decades. Despite adverse circumstances, the Akoladev panchayat in the Jalna district has set an example for other panchayats by solving their water woes through community participation and effective water harvesting measures that suit their geographic terrain.

Jivrekha river, Akoladev (Source:Dilasa)
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