Khattar inaugurates 7500 microirrigation schemes from Panchkula
CHANDIGARH : The results of Mera Pani Meri Virasat Yojana, which was launched two years ago by Haryana Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar, during COVID-19, have started showing results at the ground level. On Tuesday, the Chief Minister inaugurated 7,500 micro-irrigation schemes from Panchkula.
In the programme organized by the Micro Irrigation and Command Area Development Authority (MICADA), five mobile vans of microirrigation were flagged off and along with it, two vehicles were dispatched from all the districts so that the message of water conservation can reach the general public. The Chief Minister said that water is life and we have to save water for future generations. It has become a challenge today. He said that the third world war would probably be a war over water. That’s why we have to use every drop of water wisely. Keeping this in mind, Prime Minister Narendra Modi had given a call for One Drop More Crop and I am happy that Haryana has carried forward this vision of the Prime Minister.
He said that today in the age of technology, new experiments have started in irrigation methods. Drip and sprinkler are such systems in micro-irrigation, that help save maximum water and at the same time can get a good yield. Water is used for drinking and irrigation and we have to use a scheme like micro-irrigation to optimize its usage. Paddy, cotton and sugarcane use more water. Agricultural scientists say that more than 3,000 liters of water is needed to prepare one kg of rice.
The Chief Minister said that in the 1960s, when the country was facing a shortage of food grains, the slogan of Green Revolution was given at that time and the farmers of Punjab and Haryana made the biggest contribution in the Green Revolution and made the country self-sufficient in food grains. He said that we became self-sufficient in the matters of food grains at the cost of using excessive use of chemical food grains and exploitation of ground water. However, today we have to seek alternative methods. Micro irrigation is also a step in that direction. He said that the interest of the farmers towards Mera Pani Meri Virasat Yojana, which was started two years ago during the Covid period, has increased and in the paddydominated districts of the state, farmers have started growing other alternative crops in place of paddy. He said that I am happy to inform that in the first year, instead of paddy, other crops were grown on 98,000 acres and this time a target of 2 lakh acres has been set.