Rain water harvesting and its efficient use in island farming system

Impeded drainage in the low lands and inadequate soil moisture in uplands results in poor land as well as water productivity in Andaman and Nicobar Islands. In order to increase the farm production and water use efficiency, location specific water harvesting and management technologies were demonstrated at 90 selected farmer’s field through Farmers Participatory Action Research Programme (FPARP) of Ministry of Water Resources, GOI during 2011-13. Five technologies viz., crop diversification through broad bed and furrow (BBF) system, micro irrigation, plantation and pond based integrated farming system, and moisture management in groundnut under coconut plantation were demonstrated on 0.20 ha covering a total of 18 ha spread over 35 villages across Andaman Islands. BBF recorded a net income of Rs. 1,34,000/ha with water use efficiency (WUE) of Rs. 15/m3. In pond based integrated faming system Rs. 1,40,000/ha was obtained with a WUE of Rs. 65/m3. Drip irrigation resulted in 20-30% yield increase and 50-60% water saving at all the locations. Among the technologies, broad bed and furrow system was found to be the best option for crop diversification in water logged areas, while integrated farming system performed better in hilly and undulated terrain areas.