Lift Irrigation - Lift Irrigation Scheme in Andhra Pradesh

Lift Irrigation Scheme in Andhra Pradesh

Water shortage is a huge predicament for a country like India which still relies on monsoon rains for much of its agricultural practices. As weather patterns become increasingly uncertain with time, most likely due to global warming, being prepared to cope with water shortages in the future is essential. Rural communities as well as huge population which are greatly affected by water scarcity are the people living in draught prone areas or in semi-arid up-lands. Much of these disadvantaged areas are also inhibited by tribal villages in many parts of India and are also backward in agricultural practices. These tribal villages are mainly self-sustained in their living habits and rely heavily on the paddy crops for endurance. It is becoming progressively more intricate to maintain tribal lifestyle due to uncertain weather patterns resulting in dwindling of agricultural production over time and all the more increasing the burden on state to raise their standard of living in terms of food security, education, and health care. It is also seen, when time gets tough, villagers generally tend to out-migrate on seasonal basis to seek other means of livelihood. Such seasonal migration of entire village population also affects their settled life hampering their children’s education as well as their access to other developmental support coming from state. It is consequently important to help their agriculture instead in order to reduce the incidence of migration in such areas. This can only be achieved by ensuring there is sufficient crop to feed villagers and to sell at market to allow income generation. Irrigation is the essential input to the soil for any vegetation to grow. It is used to lend a hand in the growing of agricultural crops, maintenance of landscapes, and potentials of vegetation by restoring humidity / humus in depleted soils of dry areas and during periods of insufficient rainfall. Additionally, irrigation also has a few other uses in crop production, which include shielding plants against frost, suppressing weed and wild vegetation in grain fields and helping in preventing soil conservation. In contrast, agriculture that relies only on direct rainfall is referred to as rain-fed agriculture, or if it falls in semi-arid regions, it is called dry land farming. Irrigation is often studied together with drainage, which is the natural or artificial removal of surface and sub-surface water from a given area. Various types of irrigation techniques differ in how the water obtained from the source, and is distributed within the field. In general, the aim is to supply water homogeneously to the entire field, so that each land patch has enough amount of water it needs, neither too much nor too little. Irrigation Schemes primarily comprises canal irrigation and lift irrigation schemes. In such schemes, the most important and yet the most neglected part is the local ownership and institutions of farmers taking operative and maintenance responsibilities.