Hon’ble President in his address to the joint Session of the Parliament of 16thLok Sabha indicated that “Each drop of water is precious. Government is committed to giving high priority to water security. It will complete the long pending irrigation projects on priority and launch the ‘Pradhan Mantri Krishi Sinchayee Yojana’ with the motto of ‘HarKhetKoPaani’. There is a need for seriously considering all options including linking of rivers, where feasible; for ensuring optimal use of our water resources to prevent the recurrence of floods and drought. By harnessing rain water through ‘Jal Sanchay’ and ‘Jal Sinchan’, we will nurture water conservation and ground water recharge. Micro irrigation will be popularised to ensure ‘Per drop-More crop’ .
Out of about 141 m.Ha of net area sown in the country, about 65 million hectare (or 45%) is presently covered under irrigation. Substantial dependency on rainfall makes cultivation in unirrigated areas a high risk, less productive profession. Empirical evidences suggest that assured or protective irrigation encourages farmers to invest more in farming technology and inputs leading to productivity enhancement and increased farm income.
The overreaching vision of Pradhan Mantri Krishi Sinchayee Yojana (PMKSY) will be to ensure access to some means of protective irrigation to all agricultural farms in the country, to produce ‘per drop more crop’, thus bringing much desired rural prosperity.
The broad objectives of PMKSY will be:-
Achieve convergence of investments in irrigation at the field level (preparation of district level and, if required, sub district level water use plans).
Enhance the physical access of water on the farm and expand cultivable area under assured irrigation (HarKhetkopani)
Integration of water source, distribution and its efficient use, to make best use of water through appropriate technologies and practices.
Improve on-farm water use efficiency to reduce wastage and increase availability both in duration and extent.
Enhance the adoption of precision-irrigation and other water saving technologies (More crop per drop).
Enhance recharge of aquifers and introduce sustainable water conservation practices
Ensure the integrated development of rainfed areas using the watershed approach towards soil and water conservation, regeneration of ground water, arresting runoff, providing livelihood options and other NRM activities.
Promote extension activities relating to water harvesting, water management and crop alignment for farmers and grass root level field functionaries.
Explore the feasibility of reusing treated municipal waste water for peri-urban agriculture, and
Attract greater private investments in irrigation.
This will in turn increase agricultural production and productivity and enhance farm income.
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