Chhattisgarh hikes subsidy for drip irrigation

The Chhattisgarh government has decided to increase the subsidy amount to farmers opting for installation of drip and sprinkler irrigation systems in the state.

The government would provide 25 per cent of the total cost of drip and sprinkler installation to small farmers and medium farmers. The big farmers would get 10 per cent of the total cost as subsidy. "The state government has hiked its contribution in the amount of subsidy provided to farmers for drips and sprinklers under Micro Irrigation Scheme," said Chattisgarh Water Resources Minister Brijmohan Agrawal said.

Earlier, the state government had been providing 10 per cent of the cost as subsidy to both categories of farmers. According to department officials, the Centre had been providing 35 per cent of the total cost to small and medium farmers and 25 per cent to the big farmers.

With the grant provided by both Central and State government, small and medium farmers would get 60 per cent of the total cost as subsidy while the big farmers would get a subsidy of 40 per cent.

The department had taken a slew of measures to cover more area under irrigation facilities. The total area under irrigation in the state has reached 34.20 per cent.

In 2001, when Chhattisgarh was part of Madhya Pradesh, about 1.3 million hectares of land was under the irrigation facility. Following the state government's initiatives, the irrigated area has now increased to 1.9 million hectares.