Journalism of Courage
Two years ago Ravindra Takawane was forced to invest in an extensive sub-soil drainage system without which half of his four acres of landholding in the village of Pargaon in Daund taluka of Pune district, Maharashtra would have become permanently fallow.
“It cost me a neat Rs 8 lakh but there was no other way. Those two acres had lost all their ability to absorb water and had almost turned fallow. Water used to ooze out and flood the land even if the neighbours irrigated their land,” explained Takawane who grows sugarcane in over 2 acres of his holding and seasonal vegetables like cauliflower and okra over the rest of his land.
Farmers like Takawane are in dire straits due to the over-irrigation of land which has led to the soil losing its capacity to percolate. Over the years, hence, their land became barren. Salt deposits after the excess water evaporates over the years turn the otherwise-fertile soil barren and unsuitable for agriculture. The only solution to reclaim such barren land is extensive work which involves changing the topsoil and to ensure subsoil drainage is maintained
Takawane’s land lies cheek by jowl with the irrigation canal which caters to agricultural needs of the taluka. “For others, water is a blessing, but for us who are just by the side of the river or canal it can become a major worry,” he exclaimed.
Rough estimates put the total land that has turned barren due to over-irrigation as 20,000 hectares. Interestingly, the majority of the land lies in the districts of Pune, Solapur, Satara, Sangli, and Kolhapur which are comparatively well-irrigated.
Maharashtra, as per the economic survey of the state, has around 41. 80 lakh hectares of land which is roughly 20 per cent of agriculture land. The problem of over-irrigation, salination, and land turning barren is common in the areas lying along the major rivers like Bhima, Krishna and Panchganga. Talukas of Daund, Pandharpur, Shirol, Karad, and Walwa are reeling under the phenomenon of land turning barren.
In the case of Daund, Rahul Pawar, a local farmer, explained that the majority of such barren land lies invariably in areas near the banks of the river Bhima. “Black cotton soil naturally has porosity and percolation capacity. Unfortunately, easy availability of water has led to over utilisation of this precious commodity,” he said.
Instead of using measured quantity, the farmers practised what is commonly called flood irrigation, he said, while adding that it involved irrigating the land till it overflows. “Over the years this leads to the closure of the pores in the soil and subsequently the land loses its capacity to percolate water to the underground water table,” he said.
Subsequently, the land loses its fertility and ruins the soil ecosystem. The only way to reclaim such land back is to carry out sub soil drainage. For, extensive work which includes changing the sub soil has to be done to restore the fertility of the land.
Drip irrigation, Pawar mentioned, can be a solution due to the controlled irrigation it carries out. But given the high investment necessary many farmers avoid it. “If water is easily available why to invest in drip irrigation?” he asked.
Vasudha Sardar, an executive trustee of Daund-based Nav Nirmana Nyas, pointed at the failure of farmers to rotate their cropping cycle as one of the reasons why areas along the rivers are more prone to turning fallow. Sardar’s trust runs a sustainable agricultural farm just beside the Bhima but their land has never faced the problem of fallowness. “Of course, crop rotation and limiting the cover of perennial crops to around 25 per cent of the holding can be the solutions, which should be looked at,” she said.
Pandurang Shelke, director of water and soil conservation, said the government is working actively to tackle the problem.
