Drip Irrigation: Principles and Practices

Drip irrigation is an advanced method of irrigation accepted in the developing countries. In Israel, a large area is now irrigated through drip. In India, water scarcity has compelled the farmers to go in for micro-irrigation systems like sprinkler and drip irrigation. The potential for the drip irrigation system is estimated to be 10.5 million ha. The present coverage under drip system is only 0.91 m ha in different states for all the crops including flowers, fruits and vegetables, orchards, plantation crops, spices etc. Maharashtra and Tamil Nadu are leading states in India. Trends, however, are favourable and if timely credit/funds are made available together with increased capacity of the manufacturers, it would be possible to achieve the mark of one million ha by the end of century. To realise this goal, massive efforts are required to be taken up by the government and all the concerned departments. Research institutes, farming community, manufacturing agencies and voluntary/non-governmental agencies. Government has decided to promote the systems under subsidy scheme and as use of plastics in agriculture. The present efforts have been made to compile the available information in the simplest and clearly understandable form to create an awareness in different farming communities. It is hoped that this document will be very useful to one and all.