Overuse of water in the conventional production of cotton is certainly not sustainable and warrants urgent attention. The Drip Pool Programme is one of C&A Foundation's innovative initiatives that makes it possible for poorly resourced cotton farmers to adopt water management technologies and conserve water in the production of cotton. It was piloted with the idea of establishing proof points that will help frame public policy so that climate change analysis is incorporated into strategic and operational decision making.
The drip irrigation program aimed to make drip irrigation affordable to those farmers who could not find the funds to apply for the Gujarat Green Revolution Company (GGRC) subsidy. The program covered
1,352 farmers in the Surendranagar district of Gujarat. The program was based on two major offerings— technology and finance. Technological aspects involved promoting drip irrigation in cotton cultivation, showing how it could increase profits and reduce the use of water. The core element of the program is the ‘community financing mechanism’, which provide interest-free loans to farmers and supports them in availing GGRC subsidy.
While promoting a farmer-driven model, those who participated in the program were able to irrigate almost double the area of their fields through drip irrigation using the same volume of water. It has been reported that the cultivation of cotton in an acre of land under the program saves around 2.5 million liters of water. Besides, with appropriate fertigation, farmers benefit from up to 7 percent savings on fertilizer usage. Farmers participating in the program have also reported a reduction in seed cost by 6 percent and an increase in productivity by 24 percent as compared to farmers without drip irrigation. The report concluded by mentioning that the program has shown positive results in improving farmers’ livelihoods and environmental sustainability. It has successfully set up an innovative financial product to prov
Read More: Bridging the credit gap: Water sustainability through innovative financing
