Indian farmers have shifted from growing traditional crops to commercial crops with the help of modern technology and micro-irrigation systems. Farmers are increasingly implementing micro-irrigation systems to ensure precise water and nutrient delivery, which is essential for the success of these crops as agriculture shifts towards high-value crops.
Agriculture, a major component of India's economy is greatly impacted by rainfall patterns. As a result, there is a chance to encourage micro-irrigation. There are some states, like Rajasthan, where micro-irrigation is widely used and has a large area under its coverage.
By providing precise and targeted irrigation, lowering water waste, and raising water efficiency, micro-irrigation offers a way to maximise water use.
A rise in greenhouse cultivation is driving market growth
Indian farmers have been urged to use micro-irrigation systems in their fields for efficient water use and an improvement in agricultural productivity. In comparison to greenhouses, open-field micro-irrigation in India covers a larger area. Horticulture is the primary product of micro-irrigated greenhouses in India, and more farmers are deciding to practise greenhouse farming due to its benefits, which include year-round production.
Creating a controlled environment for plants to grow in while shielding them from environmental hazards like high temperatures, pests, and diseases is known as greenhouse cultivation. In recent years, using greenhouses to grow flowers and vegetables has become a common solution to productivity issues. Because they guarantee year-round production, greenhouses are attracting more farmers' interest.
The main crops grown in greenhouses are tomatoes, flowers, leafy vegetables, capsicum, and tomatoes. Governments at the federal and state levels of the country contribute funds for the construction of greenhouses and the setting up of micro-irrigation systems. The government set a five-year target of micro-irrigating 100,000 hectares in order to boost crop yield by 20 to 38 percent.
The use of drip and sprinkler irrigation systems, which covered 11.72 lakh hectares of land in 2019–20, benefited almost 11 lakh farmers thanks to the budget announcement that it would double the micro-irrigation fund created with the National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (NABARD) to Rs 10,000 crore in 2021–2022.
Farmers have been able to reduce their use of irrigation water by 20 to 48 percent, energy use by 10 to 17 percent, labour costs by 30 to 40 percent, and fertilizer use by 11 to 19 percent hectares as lands have been brought under sprinkler and drip irrigation to improve irrigation efficiency.
The momentum in prosperous states like Tamil Nadu, Maharashtra, Gujarat, and Karnataka will be maintained with the use of this fund. The investment will assist in relaunching programs in states like Telangana and Andhra Pradesh. It will aid with more coverage in newer states like Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, and Jharkhand. In India, 12.3 million hectares of land is currently being micro-irrigated.
In order to address the twin difficulties of a lack of water and increase crop output, micro-irrigation techniques like drip and sprinkler irrigation are becoming more popular, especially among progressive farmers. It is predicted that the recently implemented Rajasthan Micro Irrigation Mission will greatly enhance and boost water use efficiency.
In order to maximize crop productivity, states are also implementing new and improved irrigation techniques. To speed up construction and raise the quality of the constructions, contemporary irrigation, and storage canal designs are being used. The conventional flooding method of irrigation is being replaced with devices like solar-powered lift micro-irrigation.
Upcoming trends in the micro-irrigation systems market in India
Groundwater depletion has emerged as a serious concern because of the substantial reliance on groundwater supplies for irrigation. It is anticipated that treating wastewater and using it in the agriculture sector will help protect freshwater and groundwater supplies from over-use and quick depletion. In certain states, creative alternatives, including irrigation through an underground pipeline conveyance system and the reuse of treated wastewater, are being investigated.
Solar pumps are now an efficient, clean source of energy for agricultural users. The central government has actively encouraged farmers to use solar pumps through programs like PM-KUSUM. The program has been extended until 2026, which is anticipated to significantly encourage new installations and the conversion of existing pumps to solar power. 181,058 solar pumps had been installed as of December 2022, while 1,174 grid-connected pumps have been upgraded.
Farmers can now monitor their crops from any location due to the use of sensors and automated irrigation techniques. Farmers can detect irrigation demands based on location and weather conditions using technologies like nanotechnology-based irrigation, artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning, satellite photography, and robotics. Another new idea that is anticipated to gain traction over time is using drones for irrigation.
The infrastructure for irrigation will significantly develop due to the numerous irrigation projects that have been planned and announced, creating several opportunities for Engineering, Procurement, and Construction (EPC) contractors, technology suppliers, and suppliers of materials and equipment.
Drip irrigation: shaping the future of farming
Micro-irrigation is becoming widely adopted in several parts of India, and farmers are utilizing it to produce crops. Rajasthan has the highest area covered by micro-irrigation (21.67%), followed by Maharashtra (16.35%), Andhra Pradesh (14.96%), Karnataka (10.89%), Gujarat (10.67%), Haryana (7.37%), Madhya Pradesh (4.53%), Tamil Nadu (4.12%), Chhattisgarh (3.3%), Bihar (1.31%), and Odisha (1.29%).
In India, of overall micro-irrigation, the share of drip irrigation and sprinkler irrigation was found to be approximately 43.56% and 56.44%, respectively .
PepsiCo India, a major producer of food and beverages, collaborated with N-Drip, a maker of gravity-powered micro-irrigation systems, to help Indian farmers in improving water efficiency. The collaboration between PepsiCo and N-Drip will increase water efficiency on 10,000 hectares worldwide by 2025.
To increase water efficiency, N-Drip's technology has already been implemented in Uttar Pradesh, Punjab, and Rajasthan. These states have started to notice obvious results, such as increased crop yields, decreased fertilizer use, and an average 39% decrease in water consumption as compared to flood irrigation.
Large regions that are irrigated by wells can use drip irrigation, particularly for widely spread high-value crops. This approach is also effective in water-scarce regions of South and Western India, hilly and undulating tracts, coastal sand terrains, and to a significant extent. Drip irrigation, therefore, has excellent potential and prospects in the future.
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