State of Adoption of Drip Irrigation for Crops Cultivation in Maharashtra

The water use efficiency under conventional method of irrigation predominantly practiced in Indian agriculture is very low due to substantial conveyance and application losses. Recognizing the consistent decline in utilizable water resources for irrigation and increase in demand for water from other competing use sectors, a number of demand management strategies have been introduced to increase water use efficiency in agriculture. One such method is drip method of irrigation (DMI). DMI is proved to be an efficient method in increasing water use efficiency as compared to the flood method of irrigation (FMI) and saving water at the field level. The adoption of DMI has been relatively high in Maharashtra state where it is used mainly for cultivating sugarcane, grapes, banana and cotton. Although more than 20 years have passed since the introduction of state-specific promotional scheme for DMI in the State, not many studies have analysed its overall status. This Chapter makes an attempt to address such questions as: What is the current status of DMI in the state in relation to other Indian states? Is DMI economically viable for farmers? Can farmers adopt DMI without government subsidy? The analysis shows that the productivity of crops, saving of water and electricity as well as profits were significantly higher for sugarcane, grapes, banana and cotton cultivated under DMI than that under FMI. The discounted cash flow technique employed to find out the viability of drip investment shows that DMI is economically viable for all the four crops even without capital subsidy.