Haryana Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar on Tuesday inaugurated 7,500 micro irrigation schemes from Panchkula.

Speaking on the occasion, the CM  said that the interest of the farmers towards Mera Pani Meri Virasat Yojana, which was started two years ago during the Covid period, has increased and in the paddy-dominated districts of the state, farmers have started growing other alternative crops in place of paddy. “I am happy to inform you that in the first year, instead of paddy, other crops were grown on 98,000 acres and this time a target of two lakh acres has been set,” he added.

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Khattar said about 200 water treatment plants are operating in the state and more than 50 per cent of the treated water is being reused for irrigation and other works. “Natural water sources also have to be saved, for this we have to make plantations, dams etc. but we cannot produce water. We have to use the available water carefully,” he added.

Giving the example of Israel, the CM said Israel is such a country in the world, where there is a lot of water scarcity and the agriculture is done by drip irrigation. “Haryana government has also signed several agreements with Israel for water conservation and centre of excellence in fruits and vegetables. We should follow Israel’s example in water conservation,” he added.

The CM said today in the age of technology, new experiments have started in irrigation method. “Drip and sprinkler are such systems in micro irrigation, that help save maximum water and at the same time can get good yield. Water is used for drinking and irrigation and we have to use a scheme like micro irrigation to optimize its usage. Paddy, cotton and sugarcane use more water. Agricultural scientists say that more than 3,000 liters of water is needed to prepare one kg of rice,” he added.

Additional chief secretary, irrigation and water resources department, Devender Singh said out of 142 blocks in the state, 85 blocks have gone into the dark zone, where the level of water has fallen below 100 meters. He said Out of 35 lakh hectares of the state, only 11.12 per cent is under micro-irrigation, which will have to be increased to 20 per cent, he added.