Irrigation methods and technologies

The Kaleshwaram Lift Irrigation Project is a multi-purpose irrigation project on the Godavari River in Kaleshwaram, Bhupalpally, Telangana.
Its farthest upstream influence is at the confluence of the Pranhita and Godavari rivers. The Pranahita River is itself a confluence of various smaller tributaries including the Wardha, Painganga, and Wainganga rivers.
# The National Green Tribunal (NGT) has held that environmental clearance (EC) to Kaleshwaram Lift Irrigation Project (KLIP) was granted ex post facto, after completion of substantial work, by the Ministry of Environment, Forests and Climate Change (MoEF&CC) “in violation of law”.

Statement 1 is incorrect. Urea is highly soluble in water as result
nitrification and de-nitrification reduces its efficiency. If urea is coated with neem the loss
can be minimized as coating of urea makes it a slow release fertilizer, making available to
plants for a longer duration.
A reduced solubility of urea also keeps contamination of ground water under control and
the coating reduces ammonia volatilization and controls atmospheric pollution.
Statement 2 is correct. A study conducted by the Department of Agriculture; Cooperation
& Farmers Welfare (DAC&FW) had found the effects of Neem Coating of Urea as:
–Improvement in soil health.
–Reduction in costs with respect to plant protection chemicals.
–Reduction in pest and disease attack.
–An increase in yield of paddy, sugarcane, maize, soyabean and Tur/Red Gram.

Statement 1 is incorrect. It is a scheme of the Gujarat government.
Prime Minister inaugurated three projects, including Kisan Suryodaya Yojana for the farmers in Gujarat recently.
Statement 2 is correct. Under the scheme, farmers will be able to avail power supply from 5am to 9pm for irrigation purposes. The state government has allocated a budget of Rs 3,500 crores for installing transmission infrastructure under this scheme by 2023.
Dahod, Patan, Mahisagar, Panchmahal, Chhota Udepur, Kheda, Tapi, Valsad, Anand and Gir-Somnath districts have been covered under the scheme for 2020-21. The rest will be included in a phased manner by 2022-23.

Mechanization of Agriculture in India.
Statement 1 is incorrect: Effective use of agricultural machinery helps to increase
productivity and production of farm output along with timely farm operations for quick
rotation of crops on the same land.
•By raising a second crop or multi-crops from the same land, there is improvement in
the cropping intensity and making agricultural land commercially more viable
(NABARD, 2018).
•However, overall farm mechanization in India has rather been lower (40-45 per
cent) compared to other countries such as USA (95 per cent), Brazil (75 per
cent) and China (57 per cent).
Statement 2 is correct: Indian tractor industry is the largest in the world, accounting
for one-third of the total global production. During the past four decades, the tractor
industry grew at a compounded annual growth rate (CAGR) of 10 per cent.

Both statements are correct.
The PM KUSUM scheme aims to add solar and other renewable capacity of 25,750 MW by
2022.

The Scheme consists of three components:
Component A: 10,000 MW of Decentralized Ground Mounted Grid Connected Renewable
Power Plants of individual plant size up to 2 MW.
-Renewable power plants of capacity 500 KW to 2 MW will be setup by individual farmers/
cooperatives/panchayats /farmer producer organisations (FPO) on their barren or
cultivable lands. The power generated will be purchased by the DISCOMs at Feed in tariffs
determined by respective SERC.
Component B: Installation of 17.50 lakh standalone Solar Powered Agriculture Pumps of
individual pump.
-Individual farmers will be supported to install standalone solar Agriculture pumps of
capacity up to 7.5 HP.
Component C: Solarisation of 10 Lakh Grid-connected Agriculture Pumps of individual
pump capacity up to 7.5 HP.
-Individual farmers will be supported to solarise pumps of capacity up to 7.5 HP.
For both Component-B and Component-C, central financial assistance (CFA) of 30% of the
benchmark cost or the tender cost, whichever is lower, will be provided. The State
Government will give a subsidy of 30%; and the remaining 40% will be provided by the
farmer.
# A rare inscription dating back to the Renati Chola era has been unearthed in a remote
village of Kadapa district of Andhra Pradesh.

Both statements are correct.
Pusa Compost/Decomposer Technology is a microbial-based strategy (liquid formulation
& capsules) which degrades the waste (pit or windrows) and converts into nutrient-enriched
compost. This is an eco-friendly and environmentally useful technology.
It involves making a liquid formulation using fermented farm inputs, and then spraying it
over the fields to ensure speedy bio-decomposition of crop stubble. At an estimated cost of
Rs 20 per acre, the technology can effectively deal with 4-5 tonnes of raw straw.
Research over the last four years in the farm fields in Punjab and Haryana have shown
positive results on the benefit of using this approach for reducing the need for crop stubble
burning and at the same time reducing fertilizer consumption and increasing farm
productivity.

Farmcil, an eco-friendly plantable seed pencils.
• Farmcil pencils come with a seed capsule containing seeds of ten different varieties of plants, including vegetables such as tomato, ladies finger and brinjal and flowering plants such as sunflower, zinnia and balsam.

•The capsule part can be buried into the soil after the pencil has shortened with use.

Zero tillage is the process where the crop seed will be sown through drillers without prior land preparation and disturbing the soil where previous crop stubbles are present.
• Zero tillage not only reduce the cost of cultivation it also reduces the soil erosion, crop duration and irrigation requirement and weed effect which is better than tillage.
• Zero Tillage (ZT) also called No Tillage or Nil Tillage.

Advantages of Zero Tillage: Reduction in the crop duration and thereby early cropping can be obtained to get higher yields.
• Reduction in the cost of inputs for land preparation and therefore a saving of around 80%.
• Residual moisture can be effectively utilized and number of irrigations can be reduced.
• Dry matter and organic matter get added to the soil.
• Environmentally safe – Greenhouse effect will get reduced due to carbon sequestration.
• No tillage reduces the compaction of the soil and reduces the water loss by runoff and prevents soil erosion.

•As the soil is intact and no disturbance is done, No Till lands have more useful flora and fauna.

Under Corporate Social Responsibility, Marico Company takes up water conservation projects, through the Parachute Kalpavriksha Foundation, largely in Karnataka, Tamil Nadu and Maharashtra.
It identifies farm lands, talks to farmers, and promotes different types of water conservation systems – farm ponds, bunds on small farm lands, desilting of dams, Bhungroo, Urdhvam and a combination of Urdhvam and Bhungroo (recharging borewells).