Showing posts with label Drip Irrigation. Show all posts
Solar Powered ‘Drought Fighter’ Ensures Water for Small Farms
Posted by Unknown in Banana, Drip Irrigation, India, Irrigation, Solar Energy on Monday, 13 May 2013
 |
| Demonstrating the use of the solar pwered drought fighter. Photo: Special Arrangement |
M. J. PRABU
The Hindu
Presently
farmers in Tamil Nadu are battling two problems — acute water shortage
and a major power crisis. “Even to pump out the fast dwindling water
from the wells for irrigating the crops farmers need electricity.
Sometimes they get it after 14 hours or some days they get the supply in
6-7 hours.
“There is no
fixed time. A few months ago, when I was visiting a field in Kadayam
region in Tirunelveli I saw a farmer spraying his 25 cents of rose crop
carrying a hand operated sprayer. He was walking several times towards
his field bund to fill his manual sprayer.
Rapidly dwindling
“Only a few
more weeks were left for him to do the daily pickings after which he
cannot continue, since summer is fast approaching and already the water
level in the wells is rapidly dwindling,” says Dr. P.David Raja Beula,
Assistant Director of Horticulture Kadayam.
Mr. David has
developed a device called ‘Drought fighter’ that promises to be of help
during dry season or when water availability is low.
The main
feature of this device is that it does not require electricity to
operate it, but works on solar energy. It is priced at Rs.15,000.
“The machine is
mainly developed to help a farmer conserve water and use the available
water efficiently for irrigating his crops, without using electricity.
Already several wells in the region are fast becoming dry with no water.
Throughout the State it is the same. Having already developed a solar
spray I decided to apply the same idea and developed this new water
conserving machine that runs on solar power,” he says.
The drought fighter has a two-metre-long sucking tube and a 20 metre long delivery hose with a lance and a nozzle attached.
An 18 watt
small solar panel is attached to a 12 volt electric motor. All farmers
need to do is place the solar panel along with the motor under the sun
for an hour and start using it.
Running time
Once charged it
can continuously run for three hours, after which the motor needs to be
switched off and the panel needs to be charged again.
Whenever there
is electricity, water from the well can be pumped into four or five 200
litres plastic barrels. Later the drought fighter is kept on top of one
of the barrels and the sucking hose immersed in it..
Water can be
sprayed in a 360 degrees circle using the 20 metre-long delivery hose,
covering 25 percents of area at a time. More area can be covered by
periodically shifting of the entire system.
Farmers can also mix their choice of pesticides or bio-pesticides in the barrel and spray.
As water need
not be carried on the back it reduces physical labour for the farmer.
The device can be used to cultivate almost all crops.
Major advantage
“The major
advantage of this over the traditional back pack sprayer is that a
farmer need not have to carry the weight of 16 litres of water on his
back every time. All he needs to do is place the plastic barrels in
different places in the field, fill them with water and use this machine
to irrigate, spray his crops,” explains Mr. David.
Mr. Mathew, a
farmer from Thiruvananthapuram, who uses this drought fighter to spray
his betel vine and pepper crop says, “It is quite a sturdy instrument
and requires only one person to operate it. Since it is powered by solar
energy I save on the cost of fuel.”
Lot of queries
“Even when the
well has minimum quantity of water, vegetables and flowers can be
cultivated in a few cents of land using this device. In Kadayam block,
Tirunelveli farmers were encouraged to carry on flower cultivation with
the help of this drought fighter and now our Horticulture office is
flooded with requests from farmers to purchase hybrid Tomato, Bhendi,
Brinjal, Bitter gourd and leafy vegetables seeds,” says Mr. David.
“Till date I
have manufactured this device only on order. And nationalized banks are
giving credit assistance to farmers to buy this machine,” he says.
For further details those inetrested can contact Mr. P.David Raja Beula , Assistant Director of Horticulture Kadayam on email:microeconomicsdavid@yahoo.co.in or mobile: 09486285704.
Novel Way to Irrigate Fields Using Plastic Saline Bottles
Posted by Unknown in Drip Irrigation, India, Irrigation, Recycling on Sunday, 12 May 2013
M. J. PRABU
THE HINDU
Irrigation
poses the greatest challenge for a farmer since water availability needs
to be there almost throughout the year. Monsoon failure means fall in
yield and farmers are the direct sufferers when the rains are inadquate.
 |
| It is a good alternative to big drip systems but requires labour and patience. Photo: Special Arrangement |
“Especially in a
country like India, the unseasonal and unpredictable weather,
especially when it turns into droughts forces agriculture scientists and
farmers to think of alternative simple and effective solutions to
overcome the crises,” says Dr. I.S.Tomar, Programme Coordinator, Krishi
Vigyan Kendra, Indian Council of Agriculture Research (ICAR) near Rajgarh Naka, Jhabua.
Case study
One such case
study that has been quite popular is use of discarded plastic saline
bottles for irrigation by farmers in Jhabua district in Madhya Pradesh.
Basically a tribal dominated dry region, agriculture is the main source
of livelihood for the people there. Maize, blackgram, soyabean, wheat,
and cotton are normally grown.
To enhance
income of the farmers of the area, an attempt was made to introduce
improved vegetable cultivation under National Agricultural Innovation
Sub Project called Integrated farming system for sustainable rural
livelihood in undulating and rainfed areas.
Mr. Ramash
Bariya, a small farmer from the village, started growing vegetables
under this project guidance in a small area. He got a good profit
initially and this encouraged him to start growing some gourd varieties
like bitter and sponge gourds. He prepared a small nursery for raising
the seedlings but faced acute water shortage due to delayed monsoon.
Worried, he
discussed with NAIP project scientists who advised him to adopt an
innovative irrigation technique using waste saline bottle.
“We wanted to
try out this method in the farmer’s field since it is quite cheap and
effective and farmers who cannot financially afford big drip systems can
try this. But farmers should realise that it requires labour and
patience,” says Dr. Tomar.
Remove bottom portion
In this
technique, the bottom portion of the bottle is removed using a sharp
knife and the bottle filled with water. It is hung upside-down from a
stake next to the sapling in the field. The plastic tube with the nozzle
is made to touch the ground near the plant root.
Instead of
allowing water to be irrigated through the channels in the field or
pouring it on the crop with a bucket, water starts dripping on the soil
surface making the root zone wet, thereby supplying moisture
continuously to the crop.
Purchased the bottles
The plastic
control knob in the middle of the tube can be adjusted to control the
drip. The farmer purchased about 350 bottles from a waste paper mart and
started using them for his cultivation. His entire family used to help
him in filling the bottles with water.
“I have been
able to get a net profit Rs.15,200 from less than a hectare till date by
using this method for my vegetables,” says the farmer..
The state
agriculture department conferred an achievement award on him for
adopting this simple yet effective method to overcome water shortage.
Many others in the surrounding areas have also started adopting this method for their crops.
According to
Dr. Tomar, this type of irrigation is quite popular in African countries
like Kenya. Many American farmers are also using this system to grow
their kitchen gardens.
But in India it is not popular. The reason could be that it is time consuming and labour intensive.
Though today
there are several government schemes and subsidies available to install a
full fledged drip irrigation system the paperwork involved is quite
laborious, and delays cultivation work.
Can tie up
So farmers are
encouraged to adopt such indigenous ideas to overcome their local
cultivation problems. If there is a hospital nearby, farmers can tie up
with it to collect the waste bottles directly, and on a regular basis.
For more information readers can contact Dr. I.S.Tomar, Programme Coordinator, Krishi Vigyan Kendra, Near Rajgarh Naka,Jhabua-457661, Madhya Pradesh,phone: 07392-244367,mobile: 09425188028 and Mr. Ramesh Parmar S/o Sh.Jawa Parmar, Rotla village, Rama block, Jhabua, Madhya Pradesh, mobile 09893593135 (pp).
