Lucknow: The instructions given by the Hon’ble Chief Minister of the State, Yogi Adityanath’s to safe guard the interest of small and marginal Cane farmers and farmers of other economically backward sections, and the directions issued by the Hon’ble Minister, Cane Minister, Shri Suresh Rana, in this regard the Department of Cane Development has taken several steps to increase the productivity of sugarcane and to reduce the cost of cultivation. Efforts are being made to reduce the cost of sugarcane cultivation by promoting the use of modern agricultural equipments and “drip irrigation” method for sugarcane cultivation.
It was also told by Shri Bhoosreddy that in the year 2021-22 under Prime Minister Agricultural Irrigation, “Per Drop More Crop” (Micro-irrigation) scheme, Targets are set for setting up of drip irrigation system in total 30,000 hectare, out of which 23,674 hectares is allocated for economically backward, marginal farmers and 80% subsidy will be payable to them and 6,326 hectare is allocated for SC/ ST category involving subsidy of 90%.
While providing technical information regarding drip irrigation system, Shri Bhoosreddy said that irrigation water is a critical resource. From sowing to harvesting of sugarcane crop about 1800-2200 mm. water is required. Thus by assuming an average water requirement of 2,000 mm for sugarcane crop., about 02 crore Water will be required for sugarcane production in 01 hectare. Out Of this, about 50 percent of the water requirement is met by rainwater, while the remaining 01 crore liters / ha is met by irrigation in the sugarcane crop. In this way, for the production of sugarcane in 30 thousand hectare, 300 crore liters of water is required through irrigation. By adopting the drip irrigation method, about 50 percent irrigation water is saved, that is, about 50 lakh liters of water per hectare and about 150 crore liters of water will be saved in 30 thousand hectares. That means, by drip irrigation method in 30 thousand hectare will save about 150 crore liters of ground water. In this way By adopting the drip irrigation system in 30 thousand hectare area, 150 million liters of ground water will be saved and about 11, 25,000 units of electricity will also be saved. This will also save about Rs.33.75 lakh of the farmers.
The cane commissioner has also directed departmental officers to ensure necessary publicity by preparing micro plans to encourage farmers to set up drip irrigation system. He also stated that drip irrigation leads to significant savings in use of fertilizers and pesticides, resulting in a significant reduction in the cost of sugarcane production and a 20 percent increase in sugarcane production and farmers’ income.
