The supply of water in an artificial way at regular intervals to crops is called irrigation.
Why irrigation is needed?
Irrigation is needed in those areas where sufficient moisture is not available naturally in the soils. As water is essential for the overall growth of plants:
- Plants contain 90 % of water
- Water is essential for the germination of seeds, germination of seed does not happen under dry conditions.
- Nutrients dissolved in water are transported to each part of plants
- Water protects the crops from frost and hot air.
- Moist soil makes crops healthy as plants absorb minerals through the water.
As per 2018 data, only 40 % of Indian agriculture lad has irrigation facilities. Irrigation is a basic prerequisite for the success of modern agriculture technology such as Hybrid Yielding Variety(HYV) and chemical fertilizer.
Vide varieties of irrigation infrastructure are found in India.
The traditional method of irrigation infrastructure:
- Rahat
- Chain Pump
- Dhekli
- Bamboo irrigation system in Meghalaya
- Tank irrigation System
- Dug Well irrigation system; ordinary wells used to extract the water.
Modern Irrigation infrastructure:
- Canal Irrigation System
- Shallow tube well; Borehole that extracts groundwater from the unconfined groundwater zone.
- Deep Tube well; Borehole that extracts groundwater from the confined zone of groundwater. It extracts water generally 15 times more water than a shallow tube well.
- Sprinkler Irrigation
- Drip irrigation method
Irrigation infrastructure based on water usage:
- Surface-based irrigation system
- Ground Water-based irrigation system
Based on the catchment areas of the irrigation system;
the following are the types of irrigation infrastructure;
Minor irrigation Infrastructure:
- Able to irrigate up to 2,000 hectares of land
Medium irrigation infrastructure
- Able to irrigate up to 2,000 to 10,000 hectares of land
Major irrigation infrastructure:
- More than 10,000 hectares of land.
As per 2007 data;
- Approx 33% of irrigation is done by a major and medium irrigation system
- Approx 66 % of irrigation is done by the micro infrastructure system
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