'Only six million hectare under micro irrigation'

India, as per estimates, needs more than 300 million tonnes of foodgrains to feed 1.6 billion people by 2050, a senior agriculture scientist said today.
Moreover, the foodstyle of Indians were changing, giving more emphasis to vegetable and fruit-based diets, Dr Anil Kumar Singh, Vice-Chancellor, Rajamata Vijayaraje Scindia Krishi Vishwa Vidyalaya, Gwalior, said here.
Inaugurating a training programme on recent advances in Micro irrigation and fertigation at Tamil Nadu Agricultural University, Singh said water and fertiliser requirement for vegetables were higher than the national average for cereals, thus necessitating more water need for farming in future.
The Government of India is spending Rs 1.2 lakh to Rs 1.5 lakh per hectare for developing surface irrigation projects and hence the cost for establishment of micro irrigation system are comparatively lower than the cost for creating surface irrigation structures, he said.

Stating that micro irrigation was given more importance in all the southern states, he said as per the 11th Five Year Plan, 17 million hectare have to be brought under it, but only six million hectare were coming under micro irrigation.
By 2050, fifty per cent of net cultivated areas will be irrigated, hence harvesting rain water was vital and essential for recycling of poor quality water and enhancing water use efficiency of crops, Singh said.