SPRINKLER IRRIGATION WITH PARTICULAR REFERENCE TO RAJASTHAN

Abstract

Water plays a very irrq~ortant role in our lives. It has no substitute. Increasing population and better standard of living has brought in pressure for efficient utilization of water resources. Agricultural needs of water are the maximum and irrigation facility is the first essential for modern in-tensive agriculture. Due to progressive utilization of better sites in the earlier years of development, the cost of harnessing and develop-ing water resources for providing irrigation has increased mani-fold. Present methods of irrigation are inefficient, wasteful and need to be efficiency-oriented. Irrigation methods, which were uneconomical a decade ago, are now becoming feasible due to technological development and rising cost of development of water resources. Sprinkler Irrigation system conserves water by eliminat-ing percolation losses, both in the water courses and the field and avoiding surface runoff. This system of irrigation is com-paratively a new technique hardly half-a-century old, but on account of its various advantages over the surface irrigation methods it has made rapid strides in various countries like U.S.A., U.S.S.R., Australia, Italy, Germany, Israel &c. Due to scarce and costly water, almost 90% of irrigated area in Israel is under sprinkler system of irrigation. Quite a good number of private farms in India have adopted sprinkler irri-gation recently and are reaping greater profits. In Rajasthan, water is scarce and costly, and, therefore, needs to be efficiently utilized. The adoption of sprinkler irrigation in Rajasthan has been studied and it has been seen for a typical 100-acre plot, that it is an economic feasibility.