Need for the Software

Realizing the importance and need for saving of water in agriculture, the central and state governments have come-up with subsidy programmes periodically right from 1990s. Of all the programmes, the most recent one, implemented from 2005 onwards, known as the National Mission on Micro Irrigation had been the most successful one and as on March 2011 as high as 5.5 million hectares have come under micro irrigation in the country (NCPAH, personal communication) as against the potentiality of 45 million hectares (Raman, 2010). Though, various stake holders are reasonably happy with the trend of the micro irrigation adoption in the country, yet it is a disappointing fact that most if the farmers still apply excess water to their crop through micro irrigation. A survey conducted in one of the leading micro irrigation .adopting states indicates that in most of the crops, at the farmers’ fields, the present water savings is around 30 to 35 per cent as against the potentiality of around 60 per cent. One of the major reasons for this excess use is the lack of knowledge at the farmers’ level regarding the actual water requirement of his crop at different stages of its growth and crop geometry and the needed time of operation of the designed micro irrigation system which depends on the design of the system, soil type, mulched condition etc. The TASK force appointed by the Government of India to suggest ways and means to popularize micro irrigation in India, in its report has indicated that if 1 billion cubic meter of water is saved through micro irrigation, then the government has to spend 8 crores rupees less for development of water resources. Thus it is imperative that the farmer should save as much water as possible which will be benefitting not only the farmers but also the public at large as the saved water can be diverted to meet the demands from other sectors like domestic, industry etc. without much pressure on the exchequer. Thus there is a need to guide the farmer to reduce his water use in agriculture in a more scientific way through micro irrigation and hence is the development of this software