Chandigarh, April 21: Concerned about water conservation for future generation, Chief Minister, Sh. Manohar Lal gave the concept of ‘Mera Pani-Meri Virasat’ scheme to the farmers of paddy-dominated districts; positive results of which are being seen at the ground level.
Ankur Kumar, a farmer from Kurukshetra’s Ban village with four acres of land, started vegetable farming in three acres in place of paddy. He produced about 1700 to 1800 carats of tomatoes from one acre; due to which he made a record sale of vegetables worth Rs 13 lakh. For this, the farmer expressed gratitude to the Chief Minister that after being inspired by the ‘Mera Pani-Meri Virasat’ scheme, he abandoned traditional farming and adopted vegetable farming. Drip irrigation was adopted for vegetables, which also saved water; reducing agricultural input and increasing income.
Target set for 2 lakh acres under Direct Seeded Rice in 2024
Under ‘Mera Pani-Meri Virasat’ scheme, the officials prepared two major schemes, in which farmers opting for alternative crops like maize, millet and jowar instead of paddy would get an incentive of Rs 7,000 per acre and provision was made for financial assistance of Rs 4,000 per acre for direct-seeded rice (DSR) with zero tillage machine.
This decision of the Chief Minister brought very positive results. Earlier, the Chief Minister had started Kisan Samvad programmes to encourage the farmers of paddy-dominated districts to sow alternative crops instead of paddy to save water. As a result, farmers saved 31,500 crore litres of water by adopting direct-seeded rice method in 72,000 acres during Kharif season 2022 and the state government gave an incentive amount of Rs 29.16 crore to such farmers.
With the increasing trend of the farmers, the Chief Minister in his budget speech has announced setting a target of bringing 2 lakh acres of area under DSR during the year 2023-24. In view of the upcoming Kharif season 2023-24, after Bhiwani and Palwal districts, the Chief Minister has shifted his Jan Samvad programme to paddy-dominated district Kurukshetra; where he will interact with the people in major villages from May 1 to 3 and appeal them to choose crops that require less water instead of paddy under the ‘Mera Pani-Meri Virasat’ scheme.
State government running schemes for micro-irrigation and underground pipelines to save water
The Chief Minister had announced in the Vidhan Sabha session that canals and channels that are more than 20 years old would be renovated in a phased manner. Its effect was visible on the ground in just two months, when on April 20, the foundation stone was laid for the restoration and renovation of about 44 kilometres from Munak in Karnal to Khubdu head in Sonipat district from Singhpura village in Panipat district. The last lining of this part was done in 1972, almost 50 years ago.
After the formation of Haryana, this is a major project of the Irrigation Department, under which the capacity of the canal will increase from 5588 cusecs to 7280 cusecs. Even before this, the state government had allocated Rs 150 crore on the repair of pump sets and other equipment with renovation of channels of South Haryana's Lift Irrigation Project; as a result of which water reached for the first time on tail-end areas in Charkhi Dadri, Mahendragarh, Narnaul and Loharu.