April 12, 2002

'27'

    The centre has launched a new scheme "On-Farm Water Management for increasing crop production in Eastern India" in 10 states of Eastern India. The scheme will be implemented in all districts of Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Bihar, Chattisgarh, Jharkhand, Manipur, Mizoram and Orissa besides 35 districts of Eastern Uttar Pradesh and nine districts of West Bengal. An amount of Rs.15 crore has been released during 2001-02 to NABARD as the share of the Government of India’s assistance under the scheme. An allocation of Rs.115 crore has been proposed during 2002-03.

    The scheme aims at developing irrigation facility at the command of the farmers by tapping ground water resources of the region in a plananed manner with proper spacing. Thus, there will be a substantial increase in agricultural production and productivity and per capita income. The scheme to be implemented through NABARD, is a back ended credit linked one and will have the following components:

• Assistance for construction of Shallow Tube Wells (STW) with pumping sets to individual/group of farmers,
• Assistance for community lift irrigation points (LIP) to a group of farmers,
• Assistance for electric/diesel water pumping sets to individual farmers, and
• Assistance for dugwells only in plateau areas for individual/group of farmers.

    The funding pattern of the scheme will be in 20:30:50 ratio, i.e. 20% of the project cost as beneficiaries’ contribution, 30% as assistance from Government of India and the remaining 50% as loan to the beneficiary/group of farmers from commercial/state cooperative /rural banks. The loan amount will not exceed 50% of the project cost. For expeditious implementation of the scheme, coordination and monitoring committees have been constituted at the central and state level respectively.

    Assured irrigation will help farmers in increasing not only the productivity of rice in kharif season by early raising of nursery, but will also enable the farmers to increase the area under rabi rice the productivity of which may go up by about three tonnes per hactre. Farmers can also take advantage of assured irrigation for other crops like pulses and horticultural crops.