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Success Stories

Automatic low cost drip irrigation system for grow bag vegetable cultivation

 Introduction: -

Vegetables available from market are not fresh and organic. Also, the cost of vegetables are high during off seasons. The shrinkage of land and acute water shortage are the other problems faced by farmers of Thiruvananthapuram district. Per capita land holdings in Kerala is less than 0.01ha i.e., farming is carried out by small and marginal farmers. Added to it, the need for having fresh produce have prompted people to utilize their terraces for cultivation using grows bags. More than 18,000 terrace gardens have been promoted since 2016 though such farming initiatives lack supervision and guidance particularly in field of irrigation. Consequently, during summer, plants face severe drought leading to plant wilting. The closure of stomata is the first indication of plant water stress. This is followed by the plant wilting and finally damage of the plant through overheating lading to crop loss.  It is here that automatic drip irrigation helps to a great extent.

  Interventions

   Process

             As a flagship programme, Kerala Mitraniktan KVK first introduced and initiated the Automatic DIS in Thiruvananthapuram corporations with an aim of more crops per drop. Starting from 2014 to 2018, KVK implemented the technology in almost all over Thiruvananthapuram. Front Line Demonstrations were carried out, by KVK,  and as a part of Project funded by Kerala State Planning Board and Kerala Irrigation Infrastructure Development Corporation thousands of units had been installed in roof top vegetable gardens.

Technology

Automatic low cost drip irrigation system includes, among others, the drip kit, booster pump and timer. Total cost for the entire system come around Rs.3650/-.This low cost technology attracted people in urban and semi-urban areas to adopt the technology for roof top vegetable cultivation.

   Automatic timer

A convenient option in a drip irrigation system is an automatic timer. Battery powered timers let us set the frequency and duration of watering, and allows setting different watering schedules for different plants. With automatic shut-off, one need not be available at close proximity to shut off the system.  Up to eight schedules can be set in the timer for the entire wek. Timer out must be connected to switch board and timer in to the pump.

 Booster pump

0.2hp submersible pump is used to pump water from the tank to the laterals. Pump is needed when the tank is kept on the level of the terrace itself. Minimum pressure of 1 kg/cm2 is required to obtain the desired discharge. If the tank is above the ground level, at a height of more than 2m, water directly flows by gravity. Connect 16mm lateral to pump to obtain the sufficient pressure.

 Drip kit

Drip kit consists of 16mm LLDPE lateral, dripper / emitter (4 LPH), stake 4 way assembly with micro tube, screen filter, fittings and accessories. Sixty numbers of poly bag can be irrigated by using this drip kit having a discharge rate of 1LPH / Poly bag. Screen filter, filter the water efficiently @ 700 litre per hour. Drip kit will last for more than two years without any damage.

Impact

Horizontal Spread

This being an automated system, efficient use was made by urban farmers. Most of the farmers are retired hands over the age of sixty.  Hence the automatic system reduced drudgery and increased the horizontal spread of the technology. More over 1000 units had been implemented in Thiruvananthapuram.  KVK as a part of extension work; published popular articles in “Kerala Karshakan” and “Karshakashree” – Monthly Agricultural Information magazines. KVK distributed extension literature to farmers while conducting training programmes .During ATMA monthly technology meetings, lectures were delivered to extension functionaries for the extra support to local farmers.  Malayala Manorama documented the field work and telecasted the same in “Nattupacha” – agricultural information programme in Malayalam.  Thr feedback from the farmers were that

  • Reduction in water use by 30-70 percent

  • increase in yields by 25 percent;

  • Reduction in additional costs like fertilizers, labour, tilling and weeding.

Drip irrigation thus saves about 30-70 percent of water compared to flood irrigation and at the same time; appropriate application of fertilizer and other inputs in combination with drip system of irrigation have the potential to raise land productivity by 100 percent. This will also economize use of fertilizer by about 30-40 percent. Additional advantages of drip irrigation include reduction in weed growth, better quality yield, less labour requirement, less electric power consumption, early maturity of crops and applicability even with the use of mildly saline water.

    

                                                                                                   

 


 

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