About 2,500 farmers from Osmanabad district in Central Maharashtra would now use a water management system devised by Israel in their farms.
The farmers use the technique under the Terna medium project for their grape and sugarcane crops. Under the system, water to farmers would be monitored through meters in the district, where water is a scarce commodity.
The agriculturists would use dripping and sprinkling processes of water for grapes and sugarcanes. This helps prevent the wastage of water.
The Irrigation Department is guiding these farmers in the implementation of the technique. A company, Rachana Constructions, has laid a 16-km pipeline for the Rs 23-crore project and purchased water meters from Israel.
Former State Agriculture Minister Rana Jagjit Singh Patil initiated the move during his tenure in 2008. Some farmers of the region were sent to Israel for studying their water management techniques.
Executive engineer of the Irrigation Department T Kamble said, under the system farmers would be charged using the electric meters. This would also curb the theft of water from the lakes and nearby ponds.
Terna project chief engineer A L Kore told PTI, "It would be for the first time in the region that water audit would be carried out. This would ensure that every drop of water is utilised for the crops."