AICRP on Water Management, Bidhan Chandra Krishi Vishwavidyalaya, West Bengal.
The coastal ecosystem of West Bengal, India is vulnerable to sustained waterlogging, acute soil salinity and tidal water intrusion. The causative factors are heavy and deep textured soil, adverse land topography, blocked natural drains, ill-functional drainage outlets, high rainfall and runoff accumulation and poor resource base of the farmers that led to the depressed yield, or even the total crop failure. To address the problem at the field level, the ICAR in collaboration with the BCKV launched a cooperating center of the AICRP on Agricultural Drainage in 1983 with active participation and involvements of local farmers with a view to develop site-specific low cost drainage technologies or its alternatives for tackling adverse soil physical and chemical conditions for ensuring sustainable crop production and generating farm family income. The findings amply demonstrated that some technology alternatives viz., protective ring bund, intermittent surface drainage for salt load reduction, conjunctive use of brackish surface water and sweet groundwater along with crop substitution/diversification etc. made possible for cultivation of crops throughout the year in an area, which otherwise did not support any crop activity. These unorthodox strategies were found technically feasible, economically viable and affordable to the resource poor farmers to achieve remunerative agricultural production.
