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New guidelines for micro-irrigation released

New Delhi, December 01, 2010

Agriculture Ministry has released the guidelines on National Mission on Micro Irrigation (NMMI).

The new guidelines would enhance water use efficiency, productivity in crops, and provide answer to water salinity and water logging issues, the Ministry said.

The revised norms along with incorporation of additional components would incentivise further investments in water-saving technology to increase gross area under cultivation. Thereby ushering next green revolution & food security of our country.

NMMI was launched as a Mission from June 2010.

Prior to this, it was implemented as the centrally-sponsored scheme, which brought more than two million hectares under micro irrigation as against national potential 69 million ha.

NMMI would boost converge of micro-irrigation activities under major government programmes such as National Food Security Mission (NFSM), Integrated Scheme of Oilseeds, Pulses, Oil palm & Maize (ISOPOM), Technology Mission on Cotton (TMC) etc. for increasing water use efficiency, crop productivity and farmers income.

The scheme also has an effective delivery mechanism that calls for close coordination among the beneficiaries, the Panchayats, the state implementing agencies and the registered system suppliers for the increased area under gross cultivation.

For the current fiscal, Ministry of Agriculture has made an allocation of Rs 1106 crore under NMMI.

The salient features of the scheme are:

• Small & marginal farmers would get subsidy of 60 per cent and for other beneficiaries, 50 per cent for an area up to 5 hectare under the Government of India share.

• Introduction of new components with advanced technologies on micro-irrigation like semi permanent sprinkler system, fertigation system, sand filter, different types of valves etc.

• Release of Central share to the state implementing agencies instead of districts.

National Committee on Plasticulture Applications in Horticulture (NCPAH) as the nodal agency provides suitable policy measures for effective implementation of NMMI in the country.

NCPAH monitors the performance of 22 Precision Farming Development Centres (PFDCs) and overall development of precision farming methods and hi-tech interventions in general in the country.

NCPAH through its PFDCs carries out research & development to build database in plasticulture and suggest suitable strategies in development of quality standards for products used in plasticulture.

NCPAH would develop an on-line monitoring system for easy access and simplified process as an effective tool for the mission implementation and administration for increasing area in water saving technologies under micro-irrigation in the country.       

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