Water Conservation

Some of different ways of water conservation are as follows.

Conserving water and increasing the ground water levels, lead to changing the ecosystem, increasing agriculture, increasing the revenue and savings of the villagers and increasing the population around the areas where water is self-reliant and innovative means are used for water conservation

Links to Traditional Water Conservation Methods

• http://www.ecoideaz.com/expert-corner/water-conservation-methods-india
• http://www.thebetterindia.com/61757/traditional-water-conservation-systems-india/

Links to Innovative Water Conservation Methods

• http://www.ecoideaz.com/expert-corner/innovative-water-conservation
• http://www.biologydiscussion.com/articles/13-outstanding-water-conservation-methods/2435
• http://edugreen.teri.res.in/explore/water/conser.htm
• http://www.ecoindia.com/education/water-conservation.html
• http://bigpictureagriculture.blogspot.in/2015/10/thirty-five-water-conservation-methods_20.html

Farmer Success Story: Vertical Farming and Israli farming techniques

Courtesy:
https://www.facebook.com/sharer/sharer.php?u=http://www.theweekendleader.com/Innovation/1837/fairy-farms.html

Vertical farming, drip irrigation, soil solarisation and the like were terms that mystified Deepak Khatker, a 40-year-old farmer, when he first visited the Indo-Israel Centre of Excellence for Vegetables here a couple of years ago.

Around three hectares are currently being used to cultivate vegetables using Israeli know-how. and is growing cherry tomatoes, seedless cucumbers, brinjals and coloured capsicums. The production is four to five times when compared with other farmers not using these technologies

Methods like vertical farming help save space on the ground by growing the crops vertically while drip irrigation saves almost 90 percent of water. These methods are revolutionary

Though the concept of "protective agriculture" is expensive as it requires greenhouses and poly-houses, government subsidies have ensured that interested farmers take the plunge.

We get 90 percent subsidy for installing a drip irrigation as well as automatic irrigation system, while for the poly-houses, we get 65 percent rebate from the government

About the centers that are propagating this

Situated 145 km from Haryana capital Chandigarh, the centre opened in January 2011 and is spread across six hectares. Built for Rs.6 crore (Rs 60 million) by the Indian government, it was set up following the signing of the Agriculture Cooperation Agreement between India and Israel in 2008.

Experts from Israel regularly visit the centre and organize free training sessions for farmers, teaching them "protective agriculture" to increase their crop yields while using fertiliser and water optimally. The experts also visit the farms if needed.

In addition, corporates and professionals are also taught ways to produce quality vegetable seedlings at a nominal fee.

"The idea is to transfer applied research and technologies to the farmers in various states across India. While Israel has already entered into agreement with seven state governments to set up these centres, the most successful model has been Haryana," said Israeli Embassy spokesman Ohad Horsandi.

At present there are 10 such Centres of Excellence with a special focus on mangoes, pomegranates and citrus fruits. By 2015, their number will increase to 28 as they also branch out to flowers, bee keeping and dairying.

According to S K Yadav, project manager of the Gharaunda centre, over 60 farmers, not only from Haryana but also from states like Himachal Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar and even Tamil Nadu, visit the centre daily. Last year, over 16,000 farmers were trained at the centre.

Diverse technologies are demonstrated to the farmers so that they can choose the technology that suits them best and maximize their yield and profits,

Rain Water Harvesting - Bhungroo

Courtesy:
http://www.theweekendleader.com/Innovation/2426/life-saver.html

 ‘Bhungroo,’ which uses pipes to filter and store rain water in underground reservoirs with capacities to hold as much as 40 million litres of  water in it. It is developed by a social entrepreneur and innovator based in Ahmedabad, Gujarat, Biplab Ketan Paul who has devised an innovative and path-breaking water-harvesting community initiative led by women. Facilitated more than 14,000 farmers and transformed 40,000 acres of barren, disaster-affected or highly saline land into productive farms.

A single Bhungroo - the Gujarati word for a hollow pipe –unit harvests water for only about 10 days a year, but supplies water for as long as seven months and ensures food security for five families by irrigating two crops in two seasons for at least 25 years. Besides, this non-saline rainwater reduces the salinity of groundwater, making it fit for agricultural use.

It can be promoted as a social business model that ensures women empowerment, as each Bhungroo unit has to be owned and managed by women from small and marginal farmer families

The current Bhungroo units come in 17 designs and their prices range from Rs. four to 22 lakhs, based upon 29 variables such as rainfall and subsoil. Installation of the unit takes a mere three days.

 A one-time investment of Rs. 8 to 9 lakh in Bhungroo can generate an income of Rs. 3 lakh per annum and the investor breaks even after 36 months. It increases a farmer’s agricultural income illustratively from Rs 11,000 a year to a minimum of Rs 34,000 in three months.

Each Bhungroo unit caters to the irrigation need of 15 acres of land, making that much land productive twice a year.

Bhungroo technology has been replicated widely in Gujarat, Karnataka, Bihar, Jharkhand, West Bengal and Odisha. Internationally, Bhungroo has crossed over to Africa (Ghana, Liberia, Kenya), EU countries, Bangladesh, Cambodia and Vietnam.