Ganesh
Barman, a resident of Salbari Barmanpara village in Matiali
block of Jalpaiguri district, is a happy man now. The village, which faced increasing
water crisis over the years, is now water sufficient because it manages its
water resources well and shares it equitably. Ganesh is a member of Salbari
Barmanpara Water User Association, formed to maintain, operate and manage the
Solar powered Pump Dug Well Scheme installed under West Bengal Accelerated
Development of Minor Irrigation Project (WBADMIP), a Govt. of West Bengal and The
World Bank initiative.
Before
the implementation of the scheme, due to poor water holding capacity of the
soil and scanty rainfall in Rabi season, the farmers of the village had to resort
to cultivation only during Monsoon season. But, even during the monsoon season,
weak agricultural extension services and lack of assured irrigation restricted crop
production only for domestic consumption. To earn their livelihood farmers had
to move to other labor job options such as pebble collections during winters
(Rabi season).
“Water issues resulted in migrations, conflicts
and vulnerability to many socio-economic problems,” Ganesh Barman, WUA member
Agriculture
is the main source of livelihood in the area, and it is dependent on rainwater.
When rainwater is insufficient to support the crops, the dug wells are the only
hope of these vulnerable farming communities. The irrigation of crops through
these dug wells was labor-intensive, and time-consuming. Though still
operational at a few places, they are now being considered old-fashioned and outdated
options, because pumping water through them is uneconomical. As an adaptation
option, farmers had been going for electrical/diesel pumping systems for these
dug wells. But, due to electricity shortages for electric pumps and high
operational costs of diesel pumps, alternate options needed to be explored.
As
an initiative to demonstrate improved agricultural productivity and enhance
farmers’ resilience by introducing climate-smart interventions, two cluster
based Solar Powered Pump Dug Well with 1500 mm X 300 mm X 75 mm (diameter x height
x thickness) ring sizes were constructed in 2015 from the Project in Salbari
Barmanpara village, with an expenditure of
INR 14,78,017. A 2 HP submersible pump was attached with a capacity to
drag out 1, 20,000 to 1, 35,000 liters of underground water daily. A day in
Jalpaiguri refers to 5.5 hour as the maximum intensity of sunlight is between 9
am to 3pm. This kind of use of energy
efficient pumping and high-efficiency irrigation system not only reduces energy
costs and improve productivity, but also helps in water conservation.
“After
the Solar powered PDW installation, there is very less added expense unlike in
the case of electricity based structure where the chances of a transformer
burning are very high. Moreover, farmers get 5 hours of assured irrigation”, Mr
S. Mitra, Executive Engineer, Jalpaiguri DPMU.
Watering down the agriculture land:
With a command
area of 10 Ha (Each PDW have the Command area of 5 ha), the structure is
providing assured irrigation to 17 farmers which formed the Salbari Barmanpara
Water User Association with guidance and support from Institutional Development
experts of Jalpaiguri DPMU. Apart from providing assured irrigation during the
much needed Rabi season, the project also disseminating agricultural
technologies for adoption to enhance the income of these small and marginal
farmers. Agriculture experts in the SPMU and DPMU conducts various trainings
and exposure visits for the farmers to empower their agricultural knowledge and
skills. Reflection of these interventions appeared in the following Rabi season
with an expansion of almost 5 Ha cropping area against almost none in the
preceding seasons. Crops such as tomato, brinjal, cauliflower, cabbage,
mustard, potato etc. were being extensively grown thus bringing a good economic
return for the farmers. This is where the story of Ganesh Barman starts.
Story of Ganesh Barman:
Nearly
two years ago, when 30-year-old Ganesh Barman saw the installation of
solar-powered pump Dug Well, little did he know that arrival of the WBADMIP
Engineers in the village will reap rich dividends one day. He had to wrap up
his school education by 4th standard to join his elders in the field
and earn for his family. Currently he is looking after his own 4 bighas plot of
agricultural land and another 8 bighas belongs to his family members.
Earlier,
Mr. Barman earned hardly INR 48000 in a year as he was largely dependent on
Monsoon rains for his kharif paddy cultivation which was not enough to sustain
in an economy with persistent inflation. However, little bit of additional
income from livestock helped him somehow to sustain through the lean period.
Empowered
with assured irrigation from the installation of the Solar Powered Pump Dug
Wells, Mr Barman cultivated 3 bighas of land in the following Rabi season for
the first time and earned a net profit of INR 39000 . The economy of return was
as follows:
Crop
|
Area
in Bigha*
|
Cost
of Cultivation(INR)
|
Yield
Kg/bigha
|
Value
of the produce(INR)
|
Brinjal
|
1.0
|
5,000
|
3,600
|
18,000
|
Tomato
|
1.0
|
7,000
|
4,000
|
20,000
|
Cauliflower
|
0.5
|
2,500
|
6,000
|
15,000
|
Leafy Vegetables
|
0.5
|
500
|
Na
|
1,000
|
Total
|
3.0
|
15,000
|
54,000
|
*1 Bigha= 0.33 Acre
Net
Profit= Value of Produce – Cost of Cultivation
= INR 54,000- INR 15,000
= INR 39,000
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