KANCHEEPURAM: Farmers in 30 villages of Acharapakkam, a panchayat union comprising 80 villages in Kancheepuram district, are being exposed to effective water management methods combined with advanced farming techniques under the Irrigated Agriculture Modernisation
and Water Bodies Restoration and Management (IAMWARM) project.
The project, expected to benefit around 8,000 farmers, covers 11,400 hectares in these villages. Funded by the World Bank
introduced in the state in 2006, the project is divided into five phases. So far, 20 districts have been covered under the project and currently it is in its third phase. "Of these 80 revenue villages, 30 of them were shortlisted for the project because the project applies to farming villages located along river basins. The idea is to educate farmers mainly near river basins on effective use of water and modern methods in irrigation," Archarapakkam panchayat union assistant director (agriculture) R Venkatasubramanian told Times Of India on Wednesday.
Among 13 panchayat unions in Kancheepuram, Acharapakkam is the first to be selected for the project for 2010-11 and has largest number of villages covered under it. Chithamur and Lathur (Pavunjur) are the other two panchayat unions with 25 and 23 villages under the project respectively.
Kanchipuram has 13 panchayat unions comprising 648 villages. However, farming villages located along with two rivers -- Kiliarur and Ongur -- in the district are eligible for the project. Unlike the conventional method of irrigation pattern where excess use of water for paddy cultivation has resulted in depletion of water resources, under the project farmers would be guided on the quantity of water that is actually need for paddy and other crops. For example, at present, around 2,000 cubic feet of water is used to irrigate an acre of paddy field while in actual terms, the one-acre paddy field need only 800 cubic feet. "Enormous amount of water could be saved if one follows the better farming and water management methods. The aim of the entire project is less usuage of water and cultivate more crops," said assistant agricultural officer, D Mahedaran.
Combined with new farming method - System of Rice Intensification (SRI) - farmers were given tips on better utilisation of water. Besides, unlike in other agriculture schemes, under IAMWARM, entire agricultural products -- seeds, bio-fetilizers, micro-nutients, chemical fetilizers, bio-pesticides and agriculture implements -- are given free of cost. This is encourge other farmers, who follow conventional methods of farming, to adopt new farming and water management practices. Under SRI, the adequate space between crops 22.5 cm ensures free air circulation and provides them with much-needed oxygen to grow tall. The adequate spacing also helps farmers detect rats and weeds. Using this technique, the required period for paddy cultivation can be brought down by 10 days (it is 120 days in the conventional method).
The most common pieces of equipment in SRI are the conoweeder used to crush weeds and include them as bio-manure and Marker used to mark space between each crop. "Under SRI, on an average, we were able to produce six tons as against three tons in conventional method of farming," said E Venketachalapathy, a farmer in Archarapakkam.