Land and Water Management Strategies for Improving Agricultural Productivity of Farmers

Abstract

Land and water are finite natural resources but due to indiscriminate and unscrupulous use, these resources are diminishing at a faster pace. Immense population pressure, over exploitation of mother earth and water resources, deterioration in quantity and quality of these resources resulting in pollution of soil, water and environment due to greedy nature of human beings, gap in availability, accessibility and affordability of resources and latest technologies, lack of extension, training and awareness campaigns to demonstrate suitable land and water management technologies/ strategies/ policies are some of the major bottlenecks and need to be addressed continuously. Many land management technologies including, proper allocation of land under different climate resilient crops to maximize net return, medicinal and aromatic plantation in waste lands, optimum utilization of waterlogged lands, soil health and nutrient management technologies, land reclamation, promotion to organic farming as well as soil conservation measures need to be adopted. Similarly some water management technologies including rain, surface, ground water and on farm water management technologies (like laser land leveling and zero tillage), conjunctive use and multiple uses of water, appropriate selection and efficient use of water conveyance, application, storage, distribution and lifting devices, efficient and appropriate irrigation methods and scheduling, water auditing and water budgeting, Participatory Irrigation Management (PIM) in canal command, Integrated Participatory Watershed Management (IPWM), solar energy utilization are required to be adopted. Though small and fragmented land holdings in the absence of land consolidation is a big challenge in many states of the country, yet there is sufficient scope to improve agricultural productivity, provided land and water resources are utilized efficiently and judiciously.