India: Haryana government initiates climate-smart agriculture in 1,669 villages

As the situation in Haryana's 85 blocks in 19 districts has been critical with low availability of canal water and an increasing dependency on groundwater, especially for sugarcane cultivation on over 2.5 lakh acres, the BJP-led government has initiated climate-smart agriculture practices in 1,669 villages in 36 blocks. It is now bearing fruit in just a year, and the results are encouraging with the government saying micro-irrigation has increased the yield of fruits and vegetables by 52 per cent. As per official data, under the Atal Bhujal Yojna programme the government has provided an assistance of Rs 179.39 crore to 19,517 beneficiaries for opting drip, mini-sprinkler and portable-sprinkler systems on 58,000 acres, where water depth has gone down to 100 feet and installing micro-irrigation system is mandatory. A subsidy of Rs 450 crore is being provided in this fiscal for installing micro-irrigation on one lakh acre under the Micro Irrigation and Command Area Development ...