Agriculture Technology Management Agency (ATMA), through the Solar based lift irrigation system in Simdega, is providing a massive irrigation facility in the entire district and transforming the lives of people with very few sources of livelihood.
Earlier mono-cropping was prevalent across the district for several years due to lack of irrigation facilities now they are producing two to three crops in a year due to improved irrigation facilities provided by Simdega ATMA. Earlier people were forced to migrate to other places after monsoon for livelihood but now most of them are producing other cash crops after monsoon.
On behalf of Simdega Deputy Commissioner, Sushant Gaurav, the district ATMA Project Director, Krishna Bihari said that people used to do farming in monsoon season and they only used to cultivate paddy but with the help of Solar based lift irrigation system they started cultivating two to three crops in a year which helped to increase their income many fold and it has also prevented migration from the entire district.
“ATMA Simdega started installation of a Solar based lift irrigation system in mid of 2020 and the first system started functioning in October 2020. Till now we have installed 105 Solar based lift irrigation systems at different places across the districts, which are fully functional. The total estimated cost of one Solar based lift irrigation period is Rs 7.50 lakhs. The Department targeted 130 ponds where the systems have been installed. A 5 HP water lifting motor pump is the main component of the system,” said Krishna Biahri.
The Project Director further said that more than five thousand families are getting direct benefit from this scheme and it has also improved the living standard of the people of the remote areas of the district. Simdega is one of the most backward districts of the State and source of main livelihood of the people of the district is farming but due to poor irrigation system the framers of the district have not been able to produce as much as required to even sustain so that most of the people migrate to other places, he added.
“Most of the farmers of the district have not been able to afford costly irrigation systems like Diesel pumping systems. Most of them have one or less than one acre of land. This is a very cost effective system for the farmers of the district which does not require any cost in functioning,” said Krishna Bihari.
