A Micro-Irrigation scheme targeted at helping small and marginal farmers to shift to horticulture and better productivity was passed by the Cabinet today. The ambitious Rs 2,091.85 crore scheme will provide subsidies to farmers to install drip and sprinkler irrigation so they can switch to high-value horticulture crops. The money has been earmarked in the Tenth Five Year Plan.The scheme is meant to bolster the National Horticulture Mission launched by the government to encourage farmers to opt for high-value crops. Drip and sprinkler irrigation leads to effective usage of water and is intended to help farmers increase productivity with available water resources.The plan is to get 6.2 lakh hectares of land under micro-irrigation.The Centre’s share of the scheme will be Rs 850 crore while the state government’s share will be Rs 207 crore. Farmers are to bear the remaining cost. An amount of Rs 400 crore has been provided for the scheme in the budget for 2005 The projection for 2006/7 comes to Rs 450 crore with an increase of 11 per cent from what was allotted in 2005 Different states have been put under A, B and C categories with farmers receiving subsidies of up to Rs 60,000 for installing either a drip or a sprinkler irrigation system. The cost of a drip or a sprinkler has ensured that has been prohibitive for small and marginal farmers and this scheme is aimed at redressing that problem. The Agriculture Ministry hopes the scheme will lead to the increase in the area under sprinkler and drip irrigation. Meanwhile, the Cabinet also approved the Indian Council for Agriculture Research scheme for seed production in agricultural crops and fisheries for the Xth Plan. The project will be implemented by 85 centres of state agriculture units, Central Agriculture universities and ICAR institutes. In the first year of the project, the institutes will procure farm machinery and equipment for strengthening farm and laboratory facilities and production of basic seed, planting material and fish seed. In the second year, the centres will produce breeder seed and fish seed and train farmers in using the better variety seeds.
