GUWAHATI, Feb 1 ? Inspired by the success of the shallow tubewell irrigation scheme implemented in the State under the Samridha Krishak Yojana (SKY), the Planning Commission has recommended it as ?ideal for adoption in other States.? In what should sound as good music for the State Agriculture department, often in the news for the wrong reasons, the Planning Commission has termed the project a success in terms of its physical achievements ? added irrigation, increased farm output, and higher income for farmers besides efficiency of financial utilisation ? and said such a scheme has potential for application in large parts of eastern India including eastern Uttar Pradesh, Bihar and West Bengal.
Launched in October 1999, the Rs 230-crore SKY was meant to cover 18 districts with the installation of one lakh shallow tubewells (STWs) by March 2001. The primary objective of the scheme was to boost agricultural production, especially during the rabi (winter) season and thereby creating additional employment opportunities and promoting income generation in the agriculture sector. The impact of the scheme can be seen in terms of production of rice which increased from 32.54 lakh MT in 1998-1999 to 38.61 lakh MT, 39.98 lakh MT and 40 lakh MT in 1999-2000, 2000-2001 and 2001-2002 respectively. ?The production would have been even higher, but many farmers shifted to multiple cropping patterns as they were assured of regular irrigation,? a source in the Agriculture department said, adding the 9.56 lakh MT annual deficit of rice production has been met to some extent after the scheme.
The department is upbeat with the success of the scheme and plans to install five lakh more shallow tubewells within the 10th Plan period. A boost in farm output and an increase in job opportunities were the two direct benefits the farmers derived from the scheme. While the technical rationale was to increase irrigation resources to enhance production, the method adopted was popular participation through cost sharing between the State and the beneficiaries on a 2:1 ratio. Since irrigation facilities in the pre-project situation were grossly inadequate, STWs turned out to be appropriate and cost-effective methods of minor irrigation in the region which has relatively high ground water levels.
From November 1999 to January 2001, the physical achievement of the project was 82.666 against a targeted one lakh STWs in less than 14 months, indicating an achievement of 82.67 per cent. There have been inter-district variations in the progress of installation. The percentage of area under irrigation from STWs was 3.34 lakh hactare which is 20.45 per cent of the total gross area (under crops) of 16.32 lakh hactare. And increase in gross production due to irrigation from STWs was 5.35 lakh MT which is approximately 9.61 per cent of the production level. The cropping intensity achievement was 144.09 per cent, though short of the project target of 200 per cent for flood-affected and 300 per cent for flood-free areas.
Additional area under irrigation contributed by STWs rose by more than 20 per cent and the estimated additional production towards paddy, rabi crops, and all crops was 4.23 lakh MT, 3.81 lakh MT, and 8.03 lakh MT respectively. Agriculture in Assam is relatively non-mechanised and hence require additional manual labour during various stages of production like ploughing, weeding, harvesting, thrashing, etc. With the onset of the SKY project, farmers engaged additional labour on daily wage basis and even leased out a share of the land to cultivators and landless farmers on a contract basis. It also ensured full-time and part-time employment to landless farmers during the rabi season in nearby areas. The number of direct employment generated by this is estimated at 1,80,000.
While Barpeta and Lakhimpur district recorded 100 per cent achievement in STW installation, Nalbari was the lowest with a percentage of 66.71. The other 15 districts achievement ranged between 71 to 90 per cent of the target. An evaluation of the scheme done at the instance of the Planning Commission suggested that it could be improved further by expanding the uni-polar emphasis on civil construction to cover both backward and forward linkages. For example, arrangements should be made for input materials, storage, transportation, marketing, and remunerative prices fixed for the agriculture produce. Besides, identifying ancillary agro-based industries, working out different types of appropriate cropping programmes, etc. were among other measures suggested.