Small farmer makes it big in micro-irrigation

KARIMNAGAR: A small farmer of Eedula Gattipalli in Manakondur mandal is setting an ideal to others by cultivating irrigated dry (ID) crops through micro-irrigation.The farmer, Madishetti Ravi, cultivated cabbage in his 47 guntas (5,640 yards) of land and he obtained an yield of 16 tonnes despite the drought conditions and power problems.Speaking to this paper, Ravi said that he used go get only 11 tonnes of cabbage before switching to drip irrigation.“But after I began using modern irrigation method as advised by the agriculture officials, my expenditure on power and fertilisers has come down,” he said.“I invested `25,000 in cultivating the crop and after meeting all expenses, there is a profit of `62,000,” he revealed.Knowing about the profits, other farmers in the village are thronging Ravi’s fields to know about the benefits of micro-irrigation.In the wake of the drought conditions, officials had decided to bring 4,000 hectares of land under drip irrigation in the district and 70 per cent of the target has been achieved so far,” said microirrigation project director Sangeeta Laxmi.“Farmers are cultivating groundnuts, leafy vegetables, cotton, chilli, mango, banana and papaya through drip systems and cutting down expenditure on power and fertilisers.” “To encourage farmers adopt the modern farming techniques, the government is giving 100 per cent subsidy on drip, sprinkler irrigation equipment to SCs and STs, 90 per cent subsidy to small and medium farmers,” Sangeeta Laxmi added and urged farmers interested in adopting the modern irrigation methods to consult the micro-irrigation project office in the district headquarters