The Rajasthan government will focus on women farmers in a new subsidy scheme for livelihood improvement, said officials.
The scheme launched to give more subsidies to farmers will prefer women for benefits for gender mainstreaming in agriculture, the officials added.
The scheme will be run by the water resources department (WRD) and will roll out before the next crop season. This will be top-up to the existing subsidy by agriculture and horticulture departments.
“Under the Rajasthan Water Sector Livelihood Improvement Project (RWSLIP), top-up subsidy to the extent of 5% to 25% will be given to farmers to motivate them to adopt modern agricultural techniques, especially micro irrigation,” said WRD principal secretary Naveen Mahajan.
The project is aimed at improving livelihood of farmers in the canal command area through improved yield, increase in intensity of irrigation due to water saving, reduction in cost of labour, fertilizer and energy required for cultivation, and improved disease control.
The implementation of micro irrigation system under RWSLIP will be carried out by dovetailing with existing schemes of the horticulture and agriculture departments. “Synergy with agriculture and horticulture is new theme we are working on to ensure sustainable livelihood thrust,” Mahajan said.
Under micro irrigation (MI), unlike flood method of irrigation (FMI), water is supplied at a required interval and quantity to reduce the conveyance and distribution loss resulting in higher water use efficiency.
The project will provide assistance for efficient irrigation models and use of technology, with a focus on women farmers, the officer said.
After the top-up, subsidy for most of these interventions will go up to 75%. For example, existing assistance for farm pond is 60%; with a 15% top-up, this will go up to 75%.
According to the project details reviewed by the Hindustan Times, the selection of farmers for this benefit will depend upon where the applicant is from – tail end, middle reach or head reach of main canal – whether he/she is marginal, small or large farmer, the caste of the applicant, gender (women will be preferred) and proposed cropping pattern – orchard, vegetable/ exotic vegetables, cash crop, water-wise crops or other crops.
The assistance will be given for making farm pond, installing solar pumps, micro irrigation using drip and sprinkler. Women farmers will be motivated to grow small nursery, develop bee hives and do organic farming.
Rajasthan government signed an agreement with Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) for running this project on March 31, 2017. It will be rolled out before the beginning of next crop season, said officials.
