The Total precipitation for India has been estimated to be about 4000 billion cubic meters and after taking into account the loss caused by evaporation, the total annual water availability for the country has been assessed to be 1869 billion cubic meters. However, due to hydrological and topographical constraints, only about 1123 billion cubic meters has been estimated as utilizable which includes 690 billion cubic meters of surface water and 433 billion cubic meters of replenishable ground water. But there are considerable spatial and temporal variations in the availability.

As a result of growing population, the per capita water availability is reducing day by day. The estimated annual per capita water availability which was 5177 cubic meters in 1951 has come down to less than 1700 cubic meters. At the same time, certain unplanned activities for the development of water resources have resulted in unsustainable exploitation of water, also affecting its quality.

The “National Commission for Integrated Water Resources Development(NCIWRD)” has assessed that 83% of water is used for irrigation and remaining for domestic, industrial and other purposes. The Commission has assessed the projected demand for water for the years 2010, 2025 and 2050. NCIWRD has made assessment both for low and high demand scenario. The total water requirement as assessed by NCIWRD is 973 BCM for the low demand scenario and 1180 BCM for the high demand scenario for the year 2050. While making the assessment, NCIWRD has assumed improvement in the efficiency of both surface water and ground water systems and also efficiency of water use particularly in agriculture. Therefore, it is very important to adopt modern techniques and technologies for ensuring most efficient use of water.

While the network of rivers and canals, effective utilization of ground water resources and various agricultural practices like drought resistance, verities of seeds, utilsation of water saving irrigation methods like sprinkler and drip irrigation and effective utilization of rainwater through measures of its harvesting and storage have been able to meet to a great extent the ever growing demand of water by agricultural sector, it has been felt that due to ignorance and lack of awareness about the technologies and methods etc. of effective utilization of water in agricultural sector, a large chunk of water meant for this sector is lost. It was felt that farmers have to participate in any programme relating to agriculture to make it broad based and meaningful. The Ministry has therefore conceptualised Farmers Participation Action Research Programme(FPARP) for implementation. The Ministry constituted an Advisory Council on Artificial Recharge of Ground Water under the Chairmanship of Minister of Water Resources for this purpose. The first meeting of the Council was held on 22nd July, 06 at Vigyan Bhawan, New Delhi and was inaugurated by Prime Minister. In his inaugural address, the Prime Minister mentioned “We have to minimize our water use - invest in science and technology to ensure that we can grow crops which use less water. In other words, find ways of valuing the crop per drop”. To implement the suggestions of Prime Minister, a Sub-Committee under the Chairmanship of Dr. M.S. Swaminathan was constituted to prepare a report on “More Crop and Income per Drop of Water”.

Based on the recommendation of Sub-Committee, Ministry of Water Resources sanctioned Farmers' Participatory Action Research Programme at 5000 demonstration sites at a cost of Rs. 24.46 crore. This programme is being implemented in 375 districts of 25 States/UTs of the country with the help of 60 Agriculture Universities/ Indian Council of Agricultural Research Institutes / International Crop Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics (ICRISAT), Water and Land Management Institutes (WALMIs) and Non-Government Organizations (NGOs) to increase yield and income per drop of water through adoption of these technologies/methods i.e. System of Rice Intensification(SRI) technology, Integrated Nutrient Management technology, Micro Irrigation methods(Sprinkler/Drip irrigation) and Soil Moisture Conservation measures like mulching, dead furrow, opening furrow, Pit & Paired method of cultivation. Each programme covers a minimum of one hectare and is implemented in a participatory mode with the farm family having a sense of ownership of the programme.

It has been noticed that the adoption of these technologies have impacted in increasing yield of the crops and saving water. For example the adoption of drip irrigation for production of cotton, banana, groundnut and chilly has led to increase in the crop yield by 14 to 100 % and has also resulted in 26% to 75% saving of water. Similarly the use of sprinkler irrigation for production of crops like barley, onion, sugarcane, soyabean etc. has resulted in increase yield by 12% to 166% and has also caused water saving by 18% to 80%.

The adoption of suitable practices have also benefitted in conservation of soil moisture. The various methods like mulching, dead furrow, opening furrow etc. on suitable crops have resulted in increasing yield from 2% to 150 % and saving moisture from 11% to 46%.

It is expected that these demonstration programmes will be successful in realization among farmers about positive impacts, both economical and environmental, of adoption of these technologies and practices in their agricultural activities and will lessen the burden on available water resources and ensure increasing crop production to meet food requirements of the country and the world. (PIB Features)