Country moving towards terrible water crisis: ICAR

ICAR Director General Trilochan Mohapatra expressed his concern over the deepening water crisis in the country and said that water storage in the agriculture sector should be encouraged.

New Delhi:The Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR) has expressed concern over the deepening water crisis in the country and said that water storage in the agriculture sector should be encouraged.

Talking to the media in Delhi's Pusa, ICAR Director General Trilochan Mohapatra said that in 1950-51, there was a total of 5,177 cubic meters of water per person, which has come down to 1508 cubic meters in 2014.

According to ICAR, by 2025, this will reduce to 1,465 cubic meters while in 2050 it is expected to be reduced to 1,150 cubic meters. If this happens, India will be declared a country with water shortage.

"Today, 85% of the groundwater and rainwater is used in agriculture in the country. While only 48% of the total cultivated land in the country is irrigated and in the remaining part, the farmer is dependent on rainwater only," he added.

ICAR Director General informed that to avoid the major water crisis in the country, the Ministry of Jal Shakti, in collaboration with the ICAR, has launched a campaign to make farmers aware of water harvesting under the Jal Shakti mission.

He said that today there is a need to promote the most Micro-irrigation in the country. Micro-irrigation does not have any adverse effect on crop production in agriculture, but it takes only the required amount of water in such irrigation.

"Today only 90 million hectares of land in the country is irrigated with micro-irrigation, but the ICAR has set a target to double it in the next five years," he claimed adding that the ICAR has developed many such techniques through research, which can give better production from the crops with less consumption of water.

Trilochan Mohapatra said that Prime Minister Modi has also given the slogan 'More crop per Drop', whose aim is to extract maximum crop produce at least in the cost of water. Campaigns are being organized across the country to make farmers aware and efforts must be made to stop the crisis in time.