Promoting Resource Conservation Technologies using Community Irrigation Approach– An Initiative in Farmer FIRST Programme

Resource conservation technologies offer judicious use of natural resource without impairing crop productivity. It minimizes the degradation of soil and water and improves the quality of it. Rice based cropping system is dominant in India and it requires high amount of irrigation water. Erratic and uneven distribution of rainfall increases dependency on supplemental irrigation in rice that exploited ground water. While, following cereal– cereal based cropping system exhaust plant nutrient from soil and hampered the productivity of next grown crop. Thus, to sustain its productivity and conservation of resources adoption of resource conservation technologies are required at farmer’s field. Rainwater harvesting technology provides supplemental irrigation to maintain crop productivity and also groundwater recharge. Vermi-compost improves the soil health by providing essential nutrients and organic matter in the soil. These resource conservation technologies were adopted in the farmer’s field under Farmer FIRST Programme in Chhattisgarh state in rice based cropping system. Thus, the present study is on farm trial conducted to assess the effect of resource conservation technologies in rice crop in terms of yield enhancement and economic gain. Rainwater harvesting technology and community irrigation was adopted by 100 farm families and 70 farm families, respectively for two year 2019-20 to 2020-21 and rice yield increased by 15.88 per cent to 30.06 per cent. Total 26 vermi-compost units established by 26 farm families for two year 2019-20 to 2020-21 and average 33.5 q/pit/year vermi-compost produced annually. These resource conserving technologies were promoted at farmer’s field to save soil, water and other natural resources.