The problem

Meghalaya, a state in north-eastern India, has the most agricultural fields across steep hill slopes, which makes groundwater channelling for irrigation impractical. Farmers have been using traditional bamboo drip irrigation systems by tapping springs and stream water to irrigate betel leaf and black pepper planted understorey of areca nuts (betel nut) or mixed orchards. However, this traditional system has low-water efficiency and is only suitable for plantation crops. These two major constraints are hindering the optimum benefits farmers receive from agriculture, particularly during the dry season.

The solution

The existing traditional bamboo drip irrigation system has been refined by connecting it to rainwater harvest ponds/tanks constructed at the top of the hills. This ensures the availability of irrigation facilities, even during the dry season. Furthermore, it can also be used to irrigate field crops besides plantation crops , which can enhance cropping intensity, and ensure nutritional and livelihood security of the farmers.

The method

What makes this solution innovative is the trapping of rain water through water harvesting ponds constructed at the top of the hills against the traditional bamboo drip irrigation system which traps only spring and stream water from long distances. The harvested water is utilized through modified drip irrigation system designed to irrigate high value field crops grown in specified row to row and plant to plant spacing. To ensure efficient utilisation of water, the speed of the drip is managed by a woollen thread tied to the holes of the lateral pipes. Further, this method allows farmers to irrigate selected crop areas with optimum utilization of water. In addition, mulching also enhances efficient water use

The result

This solution has benefitted tribal smallholder farmers in Meghalaya, who were only growing a single crop in the monsoon season. With all year-round irrigation facilities, the farmers are cultivating cash crops such as potato, capsicum, tomato, and strawberries and earning a good income. An experiment shows that about 25-30 % of water can be saved with the modified bamboo drip irrigation coupled with straw mulching. This combination has the potential to be scaled to mountain farm lands of South Asia to tackle food insecurity put forth by water scarcity.
“It was quite difficult for us to even purchase vegetables for our own home, but now we are able to consume fresh and nutritious organic vegetables and are also selling them in the local market, generating good income, ” shares Rophina Maring, 25 from Mawphrew Village in Meghalaya who has been using the modified bamboo drip irrigation system.

Contact

Sanjay Swami
Central Agricultural University, Imphal, India
Email: sanjayswamionline@gmail.com
Contact number: +91-98419157291

SDG linkages

Each of the RMS solutions are linked to the 2030 Sustainable Development Goals outlined by the UN in 2015. The SDGs that this intervention contributes to are as follows: