 |
|
| AGRICULTURE TRIBUNE |
|
G. S. Dhillon In Gujarat public tubewells were installed by the Gujarat Water Resources Development Corporation to provide affordable irrigation to all categories of farmers. Set up in 1971, the corporation installed more than 4000 tubewells. However, the programme failed to click: it was found that the tubewells were financially unviable. The main factor was the high operational cost, mainly on account of salary bills, and poor maintenance. Balance in animal feed must Weather brightens rabi prospects
|
|
|
Lesson from Gujarat in transferring tubewells
In Gujarat public tubewells were installed by the Gujarat Water Resources Development Corporation (GWRDC) to provide affordable irrigation to all categories of farmers. Set up in 1971, the corporation installed more than 4000 tubewells. However, the programme failed to click: it was found that the tubewells were financially unviable. The main factor was the high operational cost, mainly on account of salary bills, and poor maintenance. Punjab’s attempts at installing
tubewells for farmers also had a similar fate. The agencies involved in setting up these are unviable and the tubewells installed by them are going into disuse or being abandoned. On the other hand, Gujarat tried an experiment that has worked and may have in it a lesson for Punjab too. Under increasing financial pressure, Gujarat decided to hand over the management of the public tubewells to farmers. The process started in1988-89, but gained momentum in 1998, when the tubewell transfer policy was simplified. Targets were fixed for each engineering section to be achieved in a year. Mere transfer of tubewells to farmer groups on lease did not indicate success. It was decided to rope in the services of the International Water Management Institute (IWMI), Sri Lanka, to study the problem and advise. The IWMI studied the performance of different categories of tubewells in Anand district. The study covered the operational efficiency, financial viability and profitability, and quality of service maintenance data of 309 tubewells. The hours of operation and gross area irrigated were the measures of operational efficiency. In the case of transferred tubewells, the performance was found to be better than those of GWRDC tubewells. The increase on account of operational hours was around 50 per cent and for irrigated area it was 55 per cent. Farmers covered by the transferred tubewells also felt that they were getting a better service than before. This was on account of adequacy and timeliness of irrigation. In financial terms also the transferred tubewells were doing better. The GWRDC tubewells were charging higher water rates and yet making huge losses. Private tubewells made higher profits, followed by those run by cooperatives and then informal groups. Low operator salaries, better maintenance, and appropriately sized pump-sets helped private and transferred tubewells to keep the costs low. They also earned more by pumping for greater number of hours. The better performance in the case of the tubewells run by cooperatives was attributed to the fact the length of lease was five years as compared to one year of those run by informal groups.
Success factors The success lay in the speed, scale and frugality of institutional investment on the part of the GWRDC. It adopted a very simple and direct process for quick results instead of going through process-intensive organisation of the water user associations. The corporation made quick changes when needed. For example, the initial insistence on framing cooperatives was diluted in the later stage and instead it allowed smaller informal groups to take over the tubewells. This helped in overcoming farmers’ inhibitions and speeded up the transfer process. The GWRDC also followed the practice of minimum interference after the transfer of a tubewell. The farmer groups were left free to appoint operators, make irrigation schedules, undertake repairs and even replace the pump-set with a new one of different make and capacity. They could also evolve different pricing systems. This autonomy led to a sense of ownership and encouraged farmers to invest in the tubewells to improve the viability and performance. The motivation helped the transfer of around 50 per cent of the tubewells and those left were either in poor shape or too efficient and there many groups anxious to take over. The IWMI advised that in the defunct tubewells should be sold instead of transferred on lease. The attraction in this mode was that farmers got an energy connection with the poorly performing tubewell and this weighed high with them. In the case of the “highly efficient” tubewells, auction was recommended. While it would be unrealistic to expect the GWRC model to be directly applicable elsewhere, the lesson from the experience can be important for other states like Punjab and Haryana. |
|
Balance in animal feed must
Feeding is considered one of the most important aspects in dairy farming as it accounts for 70 per cent of the expenses. Given this, that cost of milk production can be reduced if we are able to cut costs by feeding the animals in an optimum manner. Most farmers feed their animals according to their arbitrary judgement or using the same yardstick for all animals, irrespective of their production potential and physiological state. An understanding of certain principles of feeding is essential.
Excess In sudden and excessive onset of feeding of cereal grains as part of concentrate mixture or as such, particularly when the diet has low roughage, cattle are liable to suffer from lactic acidosis or bloat. Acidosis:
In the case of humans, the normal end product of carbohydrate digestion is glucose, but in ruminants glucose is further degraded into three acids, acetic, propionic and butyric acids. But excessive and sudden feeding of cereals leads to the production of lactic acid instead. This is because of insufficient number of grain-digesting bacteria in the rumen (part of stomach where microbial digestion takes place). The strength of these bacteria is decided by the amount of grains being fed. In such cases, another group of bacteria develops, which leads to the production of a stronger acid called lactic acid. This renders the rumen more acidic, which kills a vast population of microbes, hindering the digestion process. If this condition persists for long, it could damage the liver, kidney and even nervous disorder may occur. Bloat:
This condition occurs because grain is high-density ration. Its excess depresses a part of the stomach below the rumen fluid level. This causes the entrapping of gas in the fluid, leading to a bloat. The best way to avoid these conditions is to follow the basic nutrition principle that any change in the feeding schedule should be gradual and the ration should contain roughage along with concentrates.
Roughage Legume fodder crops are considered better than non-legume because legumes have higher protein content. Along with protein, legumes also have higher water content. When fed in abundance and without the incorporation of dry roughage like straw, they produce foam at the base of the oesophagus, leading to accumulation of gases in the rumen, again causing bloat. Thus, one should not feed legume fodder solely, but with straw or non-leguminous fodder. Some animals are more prone to bloat than others. This is so because bloat also depends on saliva production, which varies from animal to animal. Saliva is an anti-foaming agent. Another factor is of excessive feeding of poor-quality roughages like late-cut hay or straw without the incorporation of easily digestible feed ingredients. These roughages have poor nutritional value. Their sole feeding leads to non-availability of nutrients to the ruminal bacteria and other micro-organisms, thereby decreasing their activity. Feed digestion is hindered and instead of moving towards other parts of the digestive tract, it starts accumulating in the rumen. On the other hand, the animal starts eating more and more to fulfil its needs. The affected animal would show a potbelly with recurring bloat. Animals must be fed some easily digestible feed component, like leguminous fodder or concentrate mixture along with poor-quality roughage. Rice straw:
Rice straw contains the micro mineral selenium. It is toxic if fed in higher amounts but a certain amount is useful. Excessive feeding of rice straw causes gangrene of body extremities. Thus, rice straw may not be a nice option for dry forage feeding.
Urea Urea is used as a protein source for dairy animals. Urea itself is non-toxic. When consumed by a ruminant, it is degraded to ammonia in the rumen by micro-organisms, which use it for the synthesis of proteins. This process continues till an optimum level of feeding of urea. But beyond a certain level, excessive ammonia is produced, all of which cannot be utilised by micro-organisms and has to be detoxified by the liver. The principle is that the level of feeding urea in the diet should be 2-3 per cent. |
|
Weather brightens rabi prospects This is reflected in the reports of accelerated sowing of rabi oilseeds and pulses, particularly rapeseed and mustard, in North India, an official note said. The active western disturbance during December and January brought moderate to light precipitation in northern and eastern India. This is considered to be beneficial for rabi crops. Wheat is a major rabi cereal with a normal area of about 266 lakh hectares, which is about 55 per cent of the area under rabi foodgrains. The area coverage reported so far is 271 lakh hectares against 244 lakh hectares covered last year in the corresponding period. As on January 30, the total water storage in the 71 important reservoirs monitored by the Central Water Commission was about 38 per cent of the full reservoir level of 131.28 billion cubic metres. This is 123 per cent of the last year’s level and 76 per cent of last 10 years’ average.
— TNS |
|
UNION Textiles Minister Syed Shahnawaz Hussein has announced that India will host the six-day World Bamboo Congress (WBC) in New Delhi from February 27, besides a four-day Bamboo Expo from February 28, with focus on alternate uses of bamboo in daily life. Speaking to mediapersons here, the minister said the two events to be held concurrently at Ashoka Hotel would witness participation by over 1,000 delegates for the Bamboo Congress and 6,000 foreign visitors for the Bamboo Expo from 50 countries. Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee has been requested to inaugurate the
event. |
NEW DELHI:
Congenial conditions for rabi crops are prevailing in North India following last year’s normal monsoon, its delayed withdrawal and subsequent moderate temperature.