Farmers in Chhattisgarh have started sowing for the Rabi season in tandem with harvesting being done for the Kharif season.
The State Government has set a sowing target of around 18.51 lakh hectares for the Rabi season, officials informed.
So far sowing has been completed in 4.25 lakh hectares for food grains, oilseeds and pulses.
Chhattisgarh had set a sowing target of 45 lakh hectares during the ongoing Kharif season.
Meanwhile, notably, CREDA will also develop an elaborate water distribution network for its solar community irrigation projects in 29 locations of the State, officials informed.
The key districts where the solar community irrigation projects had been focussed are Gariaband, Dhamtari, Kabirdham, Mahasamund, Raigarh, Janjgir-Champa, Jashpur and Sukma.
The Chhattisgarh Government has also signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with NABARD with the latter agreeing to provide loan worth nearly Rs 715 crore for completion of three incomplete major irrigatiosn schemes under Prime Minister Agriculture Irrigation Scheme.
These schemes include Kelo Major Irrigation Project, Kharang Canal Lining Project and Maniyari Canal Lining, which are to be completed by year 2019 to meet the target.
The completion of these projects will expand irrigation facility in 47,685 hectares, officials informed.
Officials of Water Resources Department informed on the occasion that Central Government has included 99 important schemes in Prime Minister Agriculture Irrigation Scheme, which includes three big projects of Chhattisgarh.
All these three projects are on the verge of completion. Ninety-nine per cent of the works under these projects has been completed, remaining construction works will also be completed soon.
Notably, Chhattisgarh is also among 13 states which had been mentioned in the Economic Survey report 2015-16 as a success story on use of drip irrigation by farmers on their lands.
The results from an impact evaluation of National Mission on Micro Irrigation of the Union Ministry of Agriculture conducted in 64 districts of 13 states mainly – Andhra Pradesh, Bihar, Chhattisgarh, Gujarat, Haryana, Karnataka, Maharashtra, Odisha, Rajasthan, Tamil Nadu, Sikkim, Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand – are revealing on the benefits of drip irrigation, according to the survey report.
Notably, the Chhattisgarh government decided to follow the Gujarat model of 'Drip and Sprinkler Irrigation' practices in the State in 2015-16.
It is worth mentioning here that many villages in Gujarat have adopted 100 per cent Drip and Sprinkler Irrigation systems to water crops. In June 2009, more than 93,000 farmers in Gujarat have adopted Drip Irrigation for their total 1.51 lakh hectares land. Drip Irrigation system and inter-linking of 21 rivers of Gujarat for conservation of water has made it possible for record Sugarcane cultivation in that State.