Subsurface drainage to overcome waterlogging and soil salinity in irrigated vertisols of Maharashtra: A lesson from farmer's perspective

Soil salinity and waterlogging problems are adversely impacting the major and medium irrigation projects, especially in canal and lift irrigation commands and low lying areas of watershed in Sangli, Satara, Kolhapur and Pune districts of Western Maharashtra. To overcome the issue, subsurface drainage (SSD) technology has been installed by the state government in Sangli district as Reclaim I, II and III projects. The current study was carried out in KasabeDigraj and Dudhgaon SSD project sites, to view the impact of this technology in terms of changes in crop productivity and farm income and emphasize was made to find out the constraints faced by the farmers in adoption of SSD technology. The results revealed that, SSD installation has led to increase in famer's income due to increase in crop yield and more diversified cropping pattern was followed than earlier. Proper installation of SSD system and its maintenance are the major challenges in large scale implementation of SSD. The successful operation of SSD system requires uninterrupted removal of drainage water collected by the system in the sump. However, poor maintenance of open drains are blocking outflow of drain water and hence resulting in improper functioning of the system.