The Ashok Gehlot government has decided to expand the micro irrigation system in the state by offering facilities and sops to farmers.
“This step is being taken in view of the high demand by farmers for micro irrigation works like diggy, farm pond and irrigation pipelines, among others,” an agriculture department official said.
He said that in the next two years, the state government plans to construct around 50,000 farm ponds in the state. For this, he said, the state government would incur over Rs 200 crore.
The official pointed out that like small and marginal farmers, non-small-marginal scheduled caste (SC)/ scheduled tribe (ST) farmers will also be given a 10 per cent additional grant.
Besides, the state government plans to reduce the burden of cost on farmers. It plans to raise the grant limit for plastic lining farm ponds from Rs 90,000 to Rs 1.2 lakh. Around Rs 105 crore will be spent on this, the official said.
During the next two years, 40,000 farmers will be given subsidies for 16,000 km of pipeline in the state.
About 100,000 hectares of 24 over-exploited groundwater blocks in some districts will be covered completely under micro irrigation (drip and sprinkler) for the next three years.
Apart from this, clusters in tribal areas — Banswara, Dungarpur, Pratapgarh and Udaipur districts — will be included in the solar energy-based community lift irrigation projects. This will benefit 85,000 farmers. An expenditure of Rs 275 crore will be incurred on this.
According to state government data, groundwater supply accounts for 1.72 per cent of the natural resources. There are 249 blocks in all, but only 31 are reportedly safe.
The state’s average annual rainfall varies by district, ranging from 158 mm in Jaisalmer to 968 mm in Sirohi.
In Rajasthan, almost 75 per cent of the area under crops is rainfed while the rest is irrigated.
