Potential of drip irrigation in north east india

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Potential Of Drip Irrigation In North East India

Introduction

North -East India is one of the wettest regions of the world with an average annual rainfall of

2000mm. The region also has a dense network of drainage channels with as many as 7 rivers

-basins lying in it. The region as such is very rich in water resource. But this has never before

been tapped for agricultural purposes, because the subsistence economy of the region with a

limited population and abundant cultivated land did not realise the necessity of growing more

crops than what was actually needed. But with a tremendous growth of population on the one

hand and subsistence economy being replaced partially by modern industrial-commercial

economy on the other, the need for growing more crops has arisen. As such the need of

irrigation in the region is being increasingly felt.

A scientific probe into the present agricultural status of the region reveals that there is a great

need of irrigation to develop agricultural production. The necessity is caused mainly by

climatic factors but there are other factors too. In respect of the climatic factors, it is firstly

seen that although the region has average annual rainfall of more than 2000 mm, about 80%

of it comes between late June and late September. From about late September the rainfall

becomes scanty and the months of November, December, January, February, and March

remain practically dry except an occasional shower. Although a few thunder-showers occur

in April and May, the water thus provided is partly absorbed by the thirsty soil lying under

the long dry spell and partly lost in evapo-transpiration. In this long spell of drought the small

rivers, rivulets, streams, ponds, ponds tanks and other shallow water bodies run dry, Even the

underground water level sinks down by 10- 15 metres. Under such circumstances no large

scale ravi crop can be carried out during the dry season from October to May without the help

of irrigation.

72% of the area of the North -East India is hilly, the water from rainfall run down the hill

slopes as sheet flood in these areas leaving little water for crops. In the hill slopes and hill

tops the jhum cultivation may not need much water, but for tea and other horticultural crops

cultivation on the terraces, irrigational facilities are a must.

In plains of the region there are sandy tracts, especially by the side of the present and old

river courses. As water percolates down in the sandy tracts, no crops can be grown unless

they are constantly supplied with water. Although such sandy tract are otherwise suitable for

the growth of various vegetables and cash crops, in the absence of water supply production

from them becomes very low. Irrigation. Therefore, is necessary in such areas.

Realising the need of irrigation for increase in agricultural production, top priority began to

be given on it and during the Fifth Five Year Plan period Irrigation Department was opened

in all the states in the region which was entrusted with launching irrigation projects.

In spite of such efforts, out of the total agricultural land in the North East India, only 8.1 lac

hectares (22.50%) have been brought under irrigation. It is less than the national norm of

25.55%, Amongst the states of the region. Manipur has the highest percentage (46.4%) of its

total agricultural area under irrigation followed by Nagaland (40. 5%) Meghalaya (25.9%)

Arunachal Pradesh (21.4%), Assam (21.2%) Mizoram (12.3%) and Tripura (11.8%).


Drip Irrigation North East !!!!

The region has drip irrigation potential for 1 M ha. As compared to this, the area covered in

the region is negligible.

Area coverage under drip

State wise drip potential in different crop in northeast:-

State Crop

West Bengal Tea, vegetable, orange, beetle-vine

Sikkim Orange, vegetable, floriculture

Assam Tea, vegetable

Nagaland Floriculture, pineapple, vegetable

Meghalaya Pineapple, floriculture

Tripura Rubber, oil palm, vegetable

Arunachal Pradesh Kiwi, orange, vegetable, pear, rubber

State Drip (ha)

Arunachal Pradesh 613

Assam 300

Meghalaya 16

Manipur 341

Mizoram 124

Nagaland 816

Sikkim 23,460

West Bengal 247

Total 25517

http://maps.google.com/maps?ll=27.06,93.37&spn=1.0,1.0&q=27.06,93.37%20(Arunachal%20Pradesh)&t=h


Cost Of Drip Irrigation And Govt Support

All the North Eastern States, Sikkim, Himachal Pradesh, Jammu & Kashmir, Uttaranchal and

Darjeeling district of West Bengal would come under Category „C.‟ Category „C‟ States it is

estimated to be 25% higher than Category „A‟ States. In Sikkim state govt and center govt

give accumulated sum of 50 % of total total cost of project. Here there is no farmer

contribution towards drip irrigation installation in their farm. In same manner Assam will

implement the drip irrigation programme to utilize money for drip irrigation from central

govt because farmer are not ready to contribute 50% share in drip irrigation project.

Cost of drip irrigation system

State Category Average Cost, Rs./ha

A 40, 000

B 46,000

C 50,000

Cost of Sprinkler Irrigation System

Coupler diameter

(mm)

Cost (Rs.)/ha

63 mm 13690

75 mm 14270

90 mm 17280


What changes does drip irrigation bring to farming?

In a 2010 study, “Impact of Drip Irrigation on Farming System: Evidence from Southern

India” by Tamil Nadu Agriculture University, researchers examined the before-and-after

effects of 50 farms growing bananas that switched from sprinkler irrigation to drip irrigation

between 2007 and 2008 in the Coimbatore district of Tamil Nadu. The results are as follows:

.

Tea Plantation

India is one of the major tea growing countries of the world, producing about 28% of the

world production annually. The other leading producers are China, Kenya and Sri Lanka.

Today the major tea growing states are Assam, West Bengal, Tripura, Tamil Nadu, Kerala

and Karnataka. Himachal Pradesh and Uttaranchal are also traditional tea growing states,

albeit to a less significant extent. Besides, tea plantation has come up recently in states like

Arunachal Pradesh, Manipur, Sikkim, Nagaland, Meghalaya, Bihar, Orissa, etc. Mizoram has

also the potential for development of commercial tea plantation. Total area under tea

cultivation is 5.8 lac hectares and production is 9865 lac kg in India. Potential of drip

irrigation in tea is Rs. 10, 000 crore.

Distribution of tea in India:-

Major States Percentage

Assam 52.6

West Bengal 21.6

Tripura 1.3

Others 2.1

North India 77.6

Tamil Nadu 14.8

Kerala 7.2

Karnataka 0.4

South India 22.4

Total All India 100

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Drip irrigation in tea:-

Areas of Study

Assam

Assam is India‟s largest tea producing state with total area under cultivation is 3, 21,000

hectare and production of 5118 lac kg of tea. There are 68591 small grower in Assam.

Dibrugarh accounts for 30 % of the total tea gardens followed by Tinsukia 22 %, Jorhat 13

%, Golaghat 12 %, Sivasagar 11 % and other districts contain 11 %.

1. Upper Assam Tea Plantation(North Bank of Brahmaputra river)

Upper Assam tea estate is in the North Bank Of Brahmaputra river here soil is young

Alluvial type and rainfall is very much erratic now days, soil under which tea plantation is

under alluvial soil mixed with small stone and area is not flat but undulated so, it make soil

such that water percolate downward after rain. Water is not available for tea after few day of

rain. These areas include Lakimpur, Sonitpur, Tezpur e.t.c. which account for 10% of total

area under tea of Assam.

Note:- potential area for drip irrigation in coming time.

2. Lower Assam Tea Plantation(South Bank of Brahmaputra river)

Lower Assam tea estate is in the South Bank Of Brahmaputra river soil here is young

Alluvial type, but in some places Alluvial soil has high silt which cause maximum runoff of

rain water and water is not available for tea plant. These areas include Jorhat, Golaghat,

Dibrugarah, Tinsukia, Sivsagar e.t.c. of these area Tinsikia, Dibrugarah, Jorhat and Sivsagar

has no irrigation problem but they are very innovative so, we can promote drip irrigation for

fertigation. This area account for more than 85 % tea plantation in Assam.

Note:-Golaghat Is The Highest Potential Area.

3. Cachar Tea estate.

This area is in lower Assam here tea estate is very sparsely distributed 112 tea garden are

located here of which maximum produce green tea.

West Bengal

Total area under tea cultivation in west Bengal is 114,525 hectare comprising of 309

organised tea estates and 8078 small tea grower. West Bengal contributes 25 % of India‟s tea

production. Sprinkler is widely used in tea garden for irrigation in Dooars and Terai region.

Of about 70 % of garden is irrigated by sprinkler in this region.

1. Dooars Tea Plantation


Dooars is in the north-eastern part of West Bengal in the lap of Himalaya. There are 163 big

gardens in Dooars of almost all big tea grower groups. Here maximum tea garden use

sprinkler irrigation system for irrigating their tea garden. That area which doesn‟t have any

irrigation facility can be persuaded for installation of drip irrigation.

2. Darjeeling Tea Plantation

Today there are 87 tea plantations in and around Darjeeling town, producing superfine

Darjeeling tea. The average yield is very low – 400 to 450 kilograms per hectare, compared

with the national average of 1 800 kilograms per hectare. 100 % of tea estate is on hill so, the

land topography is much undulated which make it unfit for flood and sprinkler method of

irrigation. In coming time drip will be best method of irrigation in Darjeeling tea because of

increasing day by day water scarcity in the hill. Unproductive four months of winter from

November to February is due to low temperature and not availability of water for irrigation.

3. Terai Tea plantation

This tea garden is in the foot hill of West Bengal, these gardens get heavy rains during

monsoon. There are 59 big tea garden and many small tea growers in this region. We can

target small grower here because these group have money and they are ready to use new

technology.

For this project i have divided tea garden into three different types depending upon their


behaviour towards adopting innovative technology. Small Growers Holding Less Than 4 Ha

Constitute 74% Of The Total Growers, Accounting For 15% Area

1. Small tea garden(1-10 hectare land holding)

2. Medium tea garden(10-100 hectare land holding)

3. Large tea garden(more than 100 hectare land holding)

4. Group tea garden(big business group )

Behaviour of different grower towards drip irrigation!!!

Small tea grower

They are grower with 1-10 hectare of tea plantation, they are owner and labour to their

garden, they sell their tea leaf to other big group who has their own tea factory, they are

not financially strong to invest huge amount of money for their garden. These gardens

are not our target garden now.

Medium tea grower

These are the grower who take care their own garden, they are manager as well as owner

of their garden. They have money for further investment but they are highly

knowledgeable so, this group can be targeted now.

Large tea grower

These tea grower have well controlled management system, owner is MD and is sole

decision maker of their garden. Manager has very little role to play, these garden owner are

leader in adopting innovative technology. They are financially sound.

Group tea garden

These group garden having thousands and thousands hectare of area under tea cultivation.

Many groups are cash rich but all decision is made in their head quarter where there are

many members in board panel with different mind set-up. Decision maker are not aware

about Real field situation and they are dependent on manager of garden.


Group Garden selected for survey

1. Duncan group.

2. Jayshree group.

3. Goodricke group.

4. Tata tea group.

5. Dhanshree group.

6. McLeod Russel group.

7. Apjeey tea.

8. Rossel tea.

9. Assam tea company.

10. Sona tea.

e.t.c

Case study of Tea in Assam

• Client Name: M K Shah Exports Limited

• Estate Name: Koilmari Tea Estate

• Division: Joyhing

• Total Garden area: 850 Ha

• Drip area: 120 Ha


• Year of Completion: Jan-2012

• Location: Lakimpur, Assam

Result of drip on yield of Tea

Month Drip area yield(k.g/Ha) Non Drip area yield(k.g/ha)

March 98 45

April 260 206

May 531 429

June-15 670.56 552.30

Why drip irrigation in tea?

Tea productivity is day by day decreasing due to following reason:-

1. Adverse climatic condition i.e. Erratic rain, long dry spell

2. Traditional cultural operation. i.e. Fertilizer application, irrigation

3. Decreasing fertility of soil due to soil erosion & leaching of nutrients.

4. Reduced water-holding capacity of soil due to decrease in organic matter in soil.

5. Lower cation exchange of soil.

6. Increasing soil salinity due to flood irrigation & acidification (pH down to 3.8)

7. Unavailability of labour for culture operation.

8. Loss in important soil biota (reduced up to 70%)

9. Compaction of the soil surface due to heavy irrigation.

10. High drought sensitivity of new high yield clonal tea varieties

11. Older tea bush

Drip, sprinkler and flood method are the two way to irrigation in tea estate. Due to low cost

of sprinkler system it is the important method of irrigation in garden, in Assam about 15 % of

total cultivable land are under sprinkler of which 99 % is under tea cultivation. Same

situation is in Dooars and Terai of West Bengal where maximum garden has sprinkler

irrigation facility.

Sprinkler irrigation is the most widely accepted method in tea gardens of North East India.

Drip irrigation is confined to seed bed i.e. nursery. In horticultural crops flood irrigation is

widely adopted.

Distribution of rainfall in North East India is highly uneven. During the period from October-


February, rainfall is scanty and the quantity varies from 5 to 10% of the annual rainfall. In

this period average evaporation exceeds average precipitation by 8 to 357 mm. Therefore,

conservation and supplementation of soil moisture by irrigation becomes necessary during

this period of moisture stress.

Tea plantation irrigation & Nutrigation

Introduction

Tea growing is an increasingly competitive business all over the world. Instability in tea

prices and in profit margins affects growers, tea estate owners and investors. In addition, a

wide spectrum of concerns needs to be addressed, including; Global warming and growing

threats of drought Decreasing yields from non-irrigated tea fields High drought sensitivity

new high yield clonal tea varieties Large fluctuations in annual tea production Inefficient and

outdated irrigation system As a conclusion new tea growing strategies will have to be

implemented to address most of these concerns.

The drip irrigation solution Nutrigation™ ensures optimal delivery of water and nutrients directly to the plant's active

root zone. Lower evaporation rate saves water, prevents run off, deep percolation and

leaching of nutrient reserves All farm practices (plucking, mechanical harvesting, weeding,

etc.) can continue uninterrupted while Nutrigation™ scheduling is optimally operated.

Drought threats are eliminated. New high-yield clonal tea varieties which are more sensitive

to drought than the seedling varieties, thrive thanks to high-precision Nutrigation™. The

result is a significant increase of the tea yield and an improvement in the annual production

curve. Cost savings in labor due to minimal hand-on involvement in irrigation and

fertilization and in the processing plant. Better economical results: Reduced costs per kg

production of "Made Tea", improved Net Present Value (NPV) and Internal Rate of Return

(IRR). Focusing on Tea Production and Research Drip irrigation systems for specific tea

production environments are successfully operating in Tanzania and Kenya.

Netafim is also involved in drip irrigation experiments to ascertain the most profitable water

and fertilizer levels for Asian and East African tea clones. Among the research partners are

the Tea Research Institute of Tanzania and the Tea Research Institute of Sri Lanka.

Drip irrigation systems

Pump unit and mainline pipe, head control comprising valves, filtration and fertilizer

injection unit, sub-main pipes and valves for each irrigation block. Double row spaced

laterals with integral pressure compensated dripper featuring highest irrigation uniformity and

clogging resistance. Drip irrigation system can operate in any topography, field layout, and

soil type and water quality. Optional: Remote control Nutrigation™ system

Method of determination of Irrigation Requirement

Plant water use may be measured or estimated. Direct measurement requires sophisticated

apparatus. Therefore it is usual to rely on indirect measurements like monitoring of soil


moisture status, or on estimates based on meteorological observations. Less sophisticated

equipment like tensiometer can be used to monitor soil moisture status. However, the

meteorological observations seem to be the only practical approach for large tracts under tea.

The environmental factors determine the potential evapotranspiration, the plant factors

determine the water requirement for growth, and the soil factors determine the water holding

capacity and moisture release characteristics. There are several models available for indirect

measurement of evapotranspiration (ET).

Estimates of Penman‟s ET based on meteorological data have been worked out for different

tea growing regions of North East India:

Regions Oct Nov Dec Jan Feb Mar Apr

South Bank 127 89 68 64 86 135 158

North Bank 128 89 66 64 87 139 153

Cachar 144 111 83 82 108 157 174

Dooars 138 100 76 75 95 150 164

The irrigation requirement should also take into account the rainfall during the period of

moisture stress. In North East India high intensity rainfall causing surface runoff occurs

during monsoon. The intensity, duration and rainfall-runoff analysis during November to

April shows that almost the entire rain received during this period can be taken as effective

rainfall (ER) from irrigation point of view. Regional analysis of effective rainfall for different

return periods during droughty months was carried out at Tocklai from long-term rainfall

data. The difference of ET and ER for the period October to April can be considered as the

total irrigation requirement.

Estimates of irrigation requirement

Regions of North East

India

Oct Nov Dec Jan Feb Mar Apr

South Bank

ET, mm 122 66 42 35 43 65 84

ER, mm (1 in 5 yrs) 39 2 0 5 17 18 84

Net irrigation

requirement, mm

83 64 42 30 26 47 -

North Bank

ET, mm 117 65 37 30 42 86 144

ER, mm (1 in 5 yrs) 34 0 1 1 2 12 58

Net irrigation

requirement, mm

83 65 36 29 40 74 86

Cachar

ET, mm 137 83 48 38 53 97 137

ER mm (1 in 5 yrs) 68 3 0 0 2 19 117

Net irrigation

requirement, mm

69 80 48 38 51 78 20


Dooars

ET, mm 105 65 43 36 45 90 118

ER mm (1 in 5 yrs) 44 0 0 1 5 5 48

Net irrigation

requirement, mm

61 65 43 35 40 85 70

Irrigation in Young Tea

In planning irrigation first priority should be given to the newly planted young tea. Among

tea areas those having coarse texture soil and in the hills especially the south facing slopes

should also get priority. Now days maximum newly planted tea is clone type which is very

sensitive to drought. Assured irrigation is required during drought for proper development of

bush of tea.

Mature Tea

Maximum response of irrigation is generally obtained in the best sections of existing mature

tea areas. For this it will be also essential to identify and remove other limiting factors. The

best results are expected to come from irrigating unprune or early light skiffed teas. In

general, depending upon rainfall received in October irrigation should commence from

November and continue till March/April. The first application in November can be a little

more than the estimated field irrigation requirement followed by five more applications, each

at an interval of three weeks. In severely drought prone years, irrigation in April may be

necessary but after the rainfall in April exceeds 75-125 mm, irrigation can be discontinued.

As in the case of young tea, irrigation schedule should not be interrupted except after heavy

rainfall exceeding 38 mm and then for not longer than 2-3 days. The quality of the water used

for irrigation should be checked prior to use.

Reasons for slow growth of area under drip irrigation

1. High capital cost required for the system

2. Subsidy is not available for tea and rubber which is main commercial crop of this

area.

3. Result of drip in tea will be different from south India or other tea growing area of

world because tea productivity depends on combination of all factors like climate and

cultural practice. In north east India from month of November to February there is

cold climate in this period tea plant go under dormant stage so, even drip can‟t induce

leaf production but drip will help in inducing early leaf production with full potential

4. Benefit-cost ratio has not been adequately demonstrated to farmers.

5. Poor awareness about the importance of drip irrigation.

6. After sale service is not satisfactory.

7. Free electricity and low price of canal water.

8. Fear about system clogging among the farmers.

9. Promotional schemes are not available in many states.

10. Poor extension and training facilities to farmers.


Recommendation!!!

1. It is understood from our field study that capital cost required to install drip irrigation

is relatively high. Because of this reason, considerable percentage of farmers have

expressed that they are unable to adopt this technology. If drip system is made

available with low cost, area under drip irrigation can be increased at a faster rate.

Example drip line in alternate row reduces cost upto 45 % in tea.

2. Drip in tea is very complex method because of much undulated topography of tea

estate and very old age tea bush. So, people should be trained specially for making

design of tea garden for drip.

3. Farmers have inadequate knowledge regarding the usefulness of liquid fertilisers.

Though a few farmers in our field study have used liquid fertilisers along with water,

most of the farmers are afraid to use liquid fertilisers through drip pipe network.

4. First manual drip irrigation should be installed then automation should be done

because people are not able to understand the properly how system operate and they

do mistake. Example Koilamari Tea Estate.

5. Drip in tea is very new concept in North East so; promoting drip irrigation by

introducing frequent demonstration will develop confidence among the farmers about

the usefulness of this new technology.

6. A special package scheme can be introduced. Some time people ask for finding best

possible water source from available water source. Example Samsing Tea Estate.

7. Netafim should tie-up with TRA and other organisation doing research in tea because

maximum Tea grower believes in the research work done by them.

8. Detailed research work should be done in drip on tea so, that we will be able to give

various question answer by potential customer.

What will be the payback period? Whether investment will be viable? How

much will be the water saving? And what will be the productivity gains?

Tea Statistic of North-East India

Productivity

In general, the productivity in North is less than in South. It is primarily due to the

comparatively coarser standard of plucking resorted to in South India. It is reflected in the

quality and price realisation factors also. The overall productivity has remained almost static

during the last three years

Productivity kg/hectare:-


Compares ion of no of garden, area, production and average yield of Assam to India

Year No. of Tea

Gardens

Area under Tea

(in '000 hectare)

Total Tea

Production

(in 000 kg.)

Average yield

(kg / hectare)

Assam India Assam India Assam India Assam India

2001 40795 116659 269 510 453587 853923 1685 1675

2002 43272 127801 271 516 433327 838474 1601 1625

2003 43293 129027 272 520 434759 878129 1601 1690

2004 43293 129027 272 521 435649 892965 1603 1713

2005 49102 140712 301 556 487487 945974 1622 1703

2006 NA NA 312 567 502041 981805 1610 1732

2007 NA NA 321 578 511885 986427 1593 1705

Source: Economic Survey Assam 2009-10

District wise Area under Tea in Assam:

(Figures in hectares)

District 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007

Darrang 41037 41367 41693 41158 41300 41388 41677 41710

Goalpara 3460 3471 3523 3635 3643 4215 4451 4451

Kamrup 3442 3436 3454 3466 3460 3787 3782 3953

Lakhimpur 4815 4763 4793 4839 4873 6301 6724 6756

Dibrugarh 93076 93484 93698 95118 95118 114435 120489 122514

Nowgong 7994 8004 8041 8114 8135 8605 8709 8758

Sibsagar 74807 76113 76762 77135 77135 83971 88008 94611

Cachar 32008 32703 32775 32137 32149 31894 31805 32312

Karbi

Anlong

1869 1748 1873 1923 1923 1885 2201 2185

North

Cachar

4004 4065 4071 4064 4032 4021 3976 4069

Total

Assam

266512 269154 270683 271589 271768 300502 311822 321319

State 2000 2001 2002

Assam 1,688 1,675 1,611

West Bengal 1,648 1,732 1,726

Tripura 971 952 896

Total North India 1,629 1,643 1,596

Tamil Nadu 1,745 1,741 1,709

Kerala 1,887 1,796 1,630

Karnataka 2,596 2,577 2,358

Total South India 1,807 1,774 1,696

Total All India 1,669 1,672 1,618


Source: Tea Board, Guwahati

District-wise Average Yield Rate of Tea:

(Figures in Kg/Hectares)

District 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007

Darrang 1877 1891 1817 1951 1949 1988 2001 2037

Goalpara 1820 1826 1712 1688 1555 1251 1421 1538

Kamrup 1250 1335 1284 1250 1244 1062 984 1007

Lakhimpur 1883 1905 1894 1757 1699 1331 1337 1357

Dibrugarh 1756 1787 1697 1843 1875 1847 1858 1839

Nowgaon 1475 1479 1455 1428 1350 1374 1233 1419

Sibsagarh 1604 1572 1501 1305 1325 1350 1332 1254

Cachar 1537 1523 1390 1289 1206 1406 1315 1366

Karbi

Anglong

1041 1113 1167 1055 1046 882 764 768

North

Cachar

1543 1258 1066 1092 1149 1098 1065 1164

Total

Assam

1686 1685 1601 1601 1603 1622 1610 1593

Source: Tea Board, Guwahati

Month-wise Production of Tea in Assam, (2007-2008 and 2008-2009): (in Tonne)

Month 2007-2008 2008-2009

April 33929 37711

May 49278 30852

June 50530 55666

July 61908 71969

August 52167 77555

September 85999 56991

October 67544 74139

November 53843 38643

December 19073 17976

January 4961 5919

February 1714 112

March 4738 16448

Total 485684 483981

Source : Directorate of Economics and Statistics, Govt. of Assam.

Rubber cultivation in North-East

Tripura

India ranks third in terms of production of Natural Rubber in the World after Thailand and

Malayasia. Kerala is the largest and Tripura is the second largest producer of natural rubber

in the country. In Tripura rubber plants (Hevea brasiliensis) were introduced for soil and

moisture conservation by Forest Department in 1963. Rubber is a tropical crop and grows


well in Tripura. The species has proved excellent for permanent settlement of tribal jhumias.

Till 2009-10, about 11,622.37 hectors area is brought under by the State agencies and 39,669

82 hectors by the Rubber Board of India and therefore, totalling to 51,292.19 hectors area is

actually brought under the rubber plantation The total production of rubber in the State is

26,191 MT in 2009-10.

Year wise extension in area of rubber plantation in Tripura till during 1976-77 to 2009-10:

Year Area (in Ha.)

1976-1977 574

1981-1982 3,590

1986-1987 10,085

1991-1992 17,860

1996-1997 23,936

2001-2002 30,575

2006-2007 35,760

2007-2008 39,670

2008-2009 46,588

2009-2010 51,292.19

Source: Economic Survey of Tripura 2009-10

The study conducted by the National Bureau of Soil Survey and Land Use Planning, as a part

of exploratory study for the World Bank Assistance revealed that approximately 1 lakh

hectares of land is suitable for rubber plantation in the State. This offers tremendous

scope drip irrigation in rubber. Apex Bodies of Industries and Commerce like CII etc. have

also realized the importance and the potential of rubber cultivation in the State. It is also

proposed to engage an external agency to study the feasibility to extend rubber cultivation in

an are not exceeding 10 percent of the total geographical area of the State.

Oil Palm

Oil palm is cultivated in about more than 1000 hectare in Mizoram and 120 hectare in

Tripura. There is drip irrigation project of govt from few years, this year there is tender of 2

crore for drip in oil palm this year in future also there will be many tender for drip. Many

private companies also started large scale cultivation of oil palm in Mizoram and Tripura.

There will be huge potential of drip irrigation in coming days in oil palm nursery and oil

palm plantation.

Water Requirements in oil palm

Oil palm requires adequate irrigation, as it is a fast growing crop with high productivity and

biomass production. Annual water requirement is in the range of 1300mmMature plantations,

during peak summer, the daily requirement may go up to 300-350 liters/tree.

Yield related irrigation management.


The climate changes around the globe causing longer periods of time without rain. Although

oil palm is growing naturally in tropical climate productivity is affected. Oil palm yield

potential is reduced when trees are exposed to stressful conditions. Low moisture is the most

common stressful condition oil palm faces. The most critical periods for oil palm are 24

months, 18 months, and 6 months prior to maturation of the fruit bunches. 24 months before

fruit maturity is when sex selection of the flowers occurs. If oil palm trees are subjected to

stress at this critical time, a higher proportion of the flowers become male flowers, which do

not become fruit. 18 months before fruit maturity is the time of floral abortion.

If oil palm trees are subjected to stress at this critical time, fewer flowers develop so a smaller

number of fruit is produced. 6 months before fruit maturity is the time of pollination. If oil

palm is subjected to stress at this critical time, less pollination occurs and a smaller number of

fruit is produced Potential benefit of irrigation

Horticultural crop

In North-Eastern state horticultural crop is the main crop. The total area under horticultural

crops is around 822.5 thousand hectare which is around 3.14% of the total geographical area

of the region (Agril Research Data Book, ICAR-2002) and it gives total production of 6818.4

thousand tonnes. The region is characterized by difficult terrain, wide variability in slope and

altitude, land tenure system and cultivation practices. The diverse agroclimatic conditions,

varied soil type and abundance of rainfall offer immense scope for cultivation of different

types of horticultural crops, including fruits, vegetables, flowers, plantation crops, tuber and

rhizomatous crops and crops of medicinal and other economic values. But due to high slope

water runoff from the field is very high; water available for plant is very less. So, drip

irrigation will be the important method of irrigation in coming future because of uneven

distribution of rain. Fruits grown in this region range from tropical and sub-tropical fruits

like banana, papaya, pineapple and citrus to temperate fruits like apple, pear, peach,

plum and even certain nut fruits. The region has rich diversity of different vegetable crops

and both indigenous tropical vegetables and temperate vegetables are grown to a considerable

extent. The major vegetables grown in the regions are brinjal, cabbage, cauliflower,

okra, onion, pea, potato, tomato, knol-khol, radish, carrot, French bean and different

cucurbitaceous crops.

Note: - potential horticultural crop for drip will be citrus, banana, kiwi, pineapple.

Crop wise area and production of fruit crops in NE region Crop NE states India

Area (,000

ha)

Production (,000 tonnes)

Productivity (t/ha)

Area (,000

ha)

Production

(,000 tonnes)

Productivity (t/ha)

Pineapple 47.4 519.8 11.0 74.2 1006 13.6 Papaya 11.4 133.9 11.8 67.7 1582 23.4 Mango 3.7 21.8 5.9 1402.0 9782 7.0 Litchi 9.9 46.5 4.7 56.2 428.9 7.6 Guava 6.4 59.7 9.3 151.3 1801.0 11.9


Citrus 57.2 300.7 5.3 488.1 4575.0 9.4 Banana 60.6 744.6 12.3 464.3 15073.0 32.5 Apple 6.7 16.3 2.4 231.4 1380.0 6.0 Other 45.7 434.9 9.5 699.0 6664.0 9.5

Source: Agril. Research Data Book ICAR

References

Darjeeling tea, India,by,Tarit Kumar Datta (Indian Institute of Management

Calcutta)

Efficiency of irrigation: a case of drip irrigation by:- A. Narayanamoorthy (nbard) The influence of climatic factor on the yield of tea in Assam valley By:- A. R. Sen, A.

K. Biswas. Socio-economic-techno-environmental assessment of IDEI products By: Teri

Micro Irrigation Guideline

The Tea Industry In India :A Survey By:- Dr. K.G. Karmakar (Executive Director),

Nabard, Mumbai

Potential For Drip And Sprinkler Irrigation In India Abstract By:-A. Narayanamoorthy

http://www.teauction.com/statistics/indprodstate.asp

http://www.nitm.in/index.html

http://www.teaboard.gov.in/ http://www.tocklai.net/ http://rubberboard.org.in/ http://tfdpc.com/about7.htm

http://tripura.nic.in/indm4.htm

http://www.neramac.com/ http://agricoop.nic.in/horticulture/micro_guidelines.htm

http://ncpahindia.com/scheme1e.php

http://gbpihedenvis.nic.in/HTML/vol11_2/rkyadav.htm

http://arunachalpradesh.nic.in/dhorti.htm

http://www.sfacindia.com/Docs/HMNEH_MIS_Report.pdf

http://www.teauction.com/statistics/indprodstate.asp

http://www.nitm.in/index.html

http://www.teaboard.gov.in/

http://www.tocklai.net/

http://rubberboard.org.in/

http://tfdpc.com/about7.htm

http://tripura.nic.in/indm4.htm

http://www.neramac.com/

http://agricoop.nic.in/horticulture/micro_guidelines.htm

http://ncpahindia.com/scheme1e.php

http://gbpihedenvis.nic.in/HTML/vol11_2/rkyadav.htm

http://arunachalpradesh.nic.in/dhorti.htm

http://www.sfacindia.com/Docs/HMNEH_MIS_Report.pdf

Documents

Potential of drip irrigation in north east india