Published in Kathmandu Post
Date - 21 September 2011
http://www.ekantipur.com/2011/09/21/oped/every-drop-counts/341139.html
When we talk about food security, the requirement of an effective plan to promote the agricultural system cannot be ignored. Food insecurity till now has been limited to a few districts. But if the disinclination of Nepali youths to pursue farming as a profession continues, the exodus of young people to foreign countries lured by lucrative jobs does not stop, and no immediate innovative and modern measures are applied to promote the agricultural system, food insecurity will definitely spread to other districts in the days to come.
There are other factors that need to be taken into consideration. Climate change will further worsen the production level of crops and make people dependent on imported food. A number of innovations and technologies have been put into practice to promote the agriculture sector. Unfortunately, farmers in Nepal’s remote villages either have no access to information or are not confident that engaging in farming will bring good returns to improve their living standards.
The political stalemate has become a setback in making the agriculture sector a government priority. Political leaders enthusiastically discuss national development, but they are yet to treat agriculture as being of paramount importance in leading the country towards prosperity. Amid the growing frustration, however, there are many farmers who have been learning new technology and applying it in their farms that has truly changed their living standards. One such appropriate and cost-effective technology even in the steep land of Nepal is drip irrigation.
Research shows that two-thirds of the land in Nepal consists of steep slopes. Except for three months during the rainy season, the rest of the year is marked by a shortage of even drinking water. In such a situation, who can hope for irrigation for farming? However, the drip irrigation technology has provided relief to farmers. Drip irrigation allows them to deliver water to the roots of plants through a network of pipes. The benefits of this technology are that it saves time and no water is wasted. Farmers don’t need to spray water over their fields holding a hose in their hands. Drip irrigation waters the roots of the plants directly; therefore, farmers do not need to spread water all over resulting in wastage through evaporation.
Drip irrigation is very simple and effective from the point of view of both technical skill and cost. A properly installed drip irrigation technology prevents water loss through overflow, deep filtration and evaporation. Supplements of agriculture chemicals can be applied efficiently together with water through drip irrigation. It can be applied even in the odd-shaped land and uneven topography. This technology can be more useful where other irrigation systems are not available. What farmers need to install are a plastic tank, polythene pipe and valves to connect the pipe.
Drip irrigation is a technology which significantly saves water intake by letting water to drip to the roots of plants either on the soil surface or directly to the root region through a network of valves, pipes and tubing. It is applied with the support of narrow tubes which supplies water directly to the base of the plant. No extra expenses are needed once the drip irrigation technology has been installed as it lasts two to three years. A tank with a capacity of 50 to 200 litres is required. A 50-litre tank can water 80 plants. The technology not only delivers water to plants, chemical supplements and fertilisers are also supplied along with the water. Fertilisers diluted in the water can reach the roots of plants directly and there is no waste. Vegetable production increases with a proportional use of water, fertilisers and medicines.
Chitra Bahadur Regmi of Jagat Bhanjyan village is the first person in Syanga district to use drip irrigation in the area. He has been benefiting by using drip irrigation to grow vegetables on his farm which formerly produced 50 kg of millet. “We have already produced 10 quintals of bitter gourds, bottle gourds and other vegetables and earned Rs 50,000,” Chitra Bahadur said.
He had once gone abroad in search of work. However, he didn’t find a good job as he had expected, and returned home with the determination to engage in vegetable farming. But the problem was water for irrigation, as there wasn’t enough in his village even for drinking. He knew about drip irrigation, and installed the technology in his land. He has diversified his vegetable output by planting bottle gourd, cucumber, bitter gourd, pumpkin and bean, tomato and has been making good money. Thanks to the new method, drip irrigation.
Chitra Bahadur plans to get a bigger water tank and call his son back from abroad where he works involve him in vegetable farming too. He is no doubt a model farmer in the area. However, there are many other enthusiastic farmers in the village who have adopted drip irrigation and taken up vegetable farming. There increased earnings have inspired would-be migrant workers to give up their foreign plans and engage in vegetable farming in their own land.
Dalendra Gurung from the same village said that he earned Rs 25,000 by growing vegetables. Agni Prashad Regmi of the same village said, “We don’t need to irrigate the whole land as drip irrigation offers a good system to drip water to the roots of plants. It also saves the time of farmers and frees them to perform other tasks.”
The government must plan to promote drip irrigation to motivate farmers to get involved in the agriculture sector. Small and intermediate technology can make true differences in the lives of the poor in the country, and that can play an important role in strengthening the country’s economy.
The writer has a Master degree in Anthropology.
