Narmada water changing crop pattern in the region

The much controversial Narmada irrigation project of Gujarat and other neighboring state may change the crop pattern of the state. Farmers have started experimenting with new crops of vegetables and fruits that are unheard of in the areas so far.

The Narmada project is expected to irrigate 18 lakh hectare of land in the state, about 19 per cent of the total agricultural land in the state.

The Sardar Sarovar project, accompanied with the Narmada main canal will benefit about 3,393 villages in Surendranagar, Patan, Ahmedabad, Bharuch and Vadodara districts where only one crop is grown in a year.

"The farmers have started taking interest in horticulture crops. We have learnt from the field workers that farmers have shown interest in new vegetables and fruits. Some of the farmers have tried even medicinal and aromatic plants in small portion of their farm land. However, we do not have any concrete data on hand as this is the a new trend. But the enthusiasm of farmers for new crops is certainly visible," said V C Sarvaiya, deputy director, horticulture department, Vadodara.

In Savli village of Vadodara district, farmers have collectively devoted about 10 hectare of land to grapes and the initial results are at par with product from any other part of the country.

Farmers are also experimenting with other horticulture crops such as aloe vera, drumsticks, new varieties of mangoes, lemon, jira, isabgol and pacholi. These are novel crops for the region.

"The farmers are willing to try new crops for better revenue as well as to utilise the new source wisely. The state government is also putting emphasis on crops which are not water intensive so as to distribute water to distant territories too. The horticulture crops can also use drip irrigation for efficient water use," said Sarvaiya.

"A number of farmers may opt for new crops but at the same time the production of core crops of the area will not suffer. With the arrival of Narmada water for irrigation, farmers are taking two crops in a year unlike earlier," stated a senior official in agriculture department.

Meanwhile, the state government is also promoting less water intensive crops than paddy and cotton. A team of about 50 farmers set to visit other states and interact with experts from the field of horticulture for ten days.

The batch of farmers leaving Vadodara on Tuesday will visit Agriculture Technology Information Center, New Delhi, Central Potato Research Centre, Punjab. The farmers will also visit Punjab Agriculture University and Haryana Agriculture University.