MINOR IRRIGATION

Minor irrigation schemes include all spring water and surface water irrigation (flow as well as lift) projects having culturable command area up to 2000 ha. Minor surface water flow irrigation projects include storage and diversion works and are the sole means of irrigation in several drought-prone tracts like undulating areas south of the Vindhyas and also hilly regions. Such projects offer considerable opportunity for rural employment and also help in recharging the meagre resources of spring water in the hard rock areas. When available surface water can't be used for irrigation through construction of flow irrigation schemes due to topographical limitations, surface water lift irrigation schemes provide the answer .

Ground water is widely distributed and provides an instant and assured source of irrigation to farmers. It improves the status of irrigation supply and helps in controlling waterlogging and salinisation within the command area of a canal. spring water development is the major activity of the minor irrigation programme. it's mainly a cultivator’s own programme implemented primarily through individual and cooperative efforts. Finance for such programmes are arranged through institutional sources. the primary large-scale venture in scientific planning and development of spring water was initiated in India in 1934 when a project for the development of about 1,500 tubewells within the Indo-Gangetic plains in the Meerut region of Uttar Pradesh was undertaken. Adequate energy for pumping spring water is essential for near-normal production of crops when there's severe drought. Hence, energy management is also essential. Besides electricity and diesel, biogas-operated pumps have to be popularised. The use of solar energy through photovoltaic systems will, probably, be the last word solution to the energy problem. Wind energy should even be tapped in desert, coastal and hilly regions.