In a major step towards groundwater preservation, Punjab Government on Tuesday launched www.tupkasinchayee.punjab.gov.in — a web portal for implementation of Micro Irrigation scheme in the State.

The State's Soil and Water Conservation Minister Rana Gurjit Singh, launching the online platform at the state-level programme, said that Punjab is making all-out efforts to arrest the fast depleting level of groundwater in the State and “the success of this endeavour would greatly benefit our farmers while taking a huge leap towards making our agriculture economically ecologically sustainable”.

Lauding the Department for the timely initiative, the Minister said that the online micro-irrigation portal would introduce greater efficiency and would vastly benefit the farmers, giving them an option to apply for micro-irrigation systems from the comfort of their home. Besides, this will also enhance transparency as farmers shall be able to monitor in real-time the stage of his or her application, he added.

Rana Gurjit, who himself has been an innovative and progressive farmer, underlined for need of conserving water resources in wake of grave situation, especially in the context of the deteriorating groundwater situation in the state.

The micro-irrigation scheme, which involves the installation of drip and sprinkler system of irrigation, was initiated in its present form during 2007 and since has been subsumed under the umbrella programme of Pradhan Mantri Krishi Sichayee Yojana.

Punjab is providing 80 percent subsidy to general category farmers and 90 percent subsidy to Scheduled Caste or Tribe, Women and Small or Marginal category farmers, which is one of the highest subsidy percentage available across the country, the Minister pointed out.

The central share in subsidy is, however, declining over the years but the State is continuing to provide this subsidy from its own resources, he added.

The programme was being implemented in the State through manual mode where farmers had to submit an application by visiting nearest Soil and Water Conservation Office, which was further processed through often slow-moving physical processes which sometimes even took weeks to approve.

Reiterating the Punjab Government’s commitment to the welfare of farmers, he called upon the officials to develop more such innovations by leveraging technology as smart farming is the future of agriculture.

He also called upon the Department to explore and develop an online portal on soils, wherein farmers can get micro-level information of their soils on a real-time basis and apply nutrients which are needed, which will check excess fertilizer consumption and lower input cost and increase profit margin for the farmer.

The state Chief Conservator of Soils Rajesh Vashisht, explaining the working of this online portal, informed that now farmers can apply for micro-irrigation from his phone or computer.

“He will need only basic documents like Identity, Address and Land record proof which shall have to be uploaded along with application along with the crop and type of system, that is drip or sprinkler, he wants to opt for. Upon submission of application, farmer will receive a cost estimate and payable subsidy detail after his satisfaction, he can confirm his application for further processing,” he said.

“PUNJAB TO BE DEVOID OF GROUNDWATER UP TO 1000 FT IF EXTRACTION CONTINUES AT PRESENT RATE”

Quoting recent groundwater study, the Minister said that Punjab will, in all practicality, be devoid of groundwater up to 1000 feet if the present rate of groundwater extraction continues.

“This will mean a higher cost for pumping groundwater which will reduce farmers’ income,” he said.

Notably, Rana Gurjit has been highlighting Punjab’s agriculture and water issues in the Vidhan Sabha due to which a committee to address groundwater issues was formed by the State Government in March 2021, under his chairmanship.

Commenting broadly on the committee report, which has already been submitted to the Vidhan Sabha Speaker Rana KP Singh, but is yet to be tabled in the House, he said that we have touched upon every aspect of water and this report will surely serve as an outline for implementing water sector programmes in every sector.

“As agriculture is the largest consumer of water resources, major stress in the report has been laid on increasing efficiency in irrigation sector,” he said.