Irrigation and Hydropower of Himachal Pradesh
Irrigation is the application of controlled amounts of water to plants at needed intervals. It helps grow agricultural crops, maintain landscapes, and revegetate disturbed soils in dry areas and during periods of inadequate rainfall.
Types of irrigation
- Surface irrigation- Itis the oldest form of irrigation and has been in use for thousands of years. In surface(furrow, flood, or level basin) irrigation systems, water moves across the surface of an agricultural lands, in an order to wet it and infiltrate into the soil.
- Micro-irrigation – Also called localized irrigation, low volume irrigation, or trickle irrigationis a system where water is distributed under low pressure through a piped network, in a pre-determined pattern, and applied as a small discharge to each plant. Ex-Drip irrigation, Sprinkler irrigation.
India’s irrigation covered crop area was about 22.6 million hectares in 1951, and it increased to a potential of 90 mha at the end of 1995, inclusive of canals and groundwater wells. However, the potential irrigation relies of reliable supply of electricity for water pumps and maintenance, and the net irrigated land has been considerably short. According to 2001/2002 Agriculture census, only 58.1 million hectares of land was actually irrigated in India. The total arable land in India is 160 million hectares (395 million acres). According to the World Bank, only about 35% of total agricultural land in India was reliably irrigated in 2010.
Irrigation status of Himachal Pradesh
To increase the crop production the importance of irrigation is well established. Adequate and timely supply of irrigation water to crops is the pre-requisite in the agriculture production process, particularly in areas where the rainfall is scanty and irregular. The supply of land is fixed, i.e. inelastic; therefore, the accelerated growth in production is possible through multiple cropping and realization of higher crop yield per unit area, which in turn depends upon irrigation. Creation of irrigation potential and its optimum utilization continues to receive a high priority in Government Planning.
Out of the total geographical area of 55.67 lakh hectare of Himachal, only 5.83 lakh hectare is the Net Sown Area. It is estimated that ultimate irrigation potential of the state is approximately 3.35 lakh hectare, out of which, 0.50 lakh hectare can be brought out under irrigation through major and medium irrigation projects and balance 2.85 lakh hectare of area can be provided irrigation through minor irrigation schemes. Till date 2.68 lakh hectare land has been brought out under the irrigation facility upto 2016.
Command Area Development (CAD)
The Command Area Development work is in progress and out of 15,287 hectare, 8,068 hectare area has been brought under Command Area Development activities.
During the year 2016-17, there is a physical target of 2,500 hectare area for CAD activities. Out of which 1,892.00 hectare area has been achieved up to December, 2016. Major Irrigation Project Shahnehar and MIP Sidhatha were included for funding under Command Area Development Water Management programme of Government of India and other project MIP Nadaun, Balh Vally (LB), Phinna Singh and 23 MIS are in pipe line for inclusion under the programme.
Major Irrigation Projects of State
- Shah nehar IP- it is biggest IP of HP., mainly located in Kangra and irrigates 15227 hectare of land in the state.
- Babhor Sahib IP- it will receive water from Nangal dam, and irrigate 3561 hectare of land.
- Baldwara IP- primarily comes under Mandi district. It will irrigate 3400 hectare of land.
- Balh valley IP- it irrigates 2400 hectare of land in Balh valley.
- Changar IP- located in Bilaspur district and will irrigate 2350 hectare of land.
Hydro power of State
India is the 7th largest producer of hydroelectric power in the world. As
target="_blank" class="youtube-subscribe-button"> Subscribe on YouTube
s under HPSEB and is operational for 29 years.