Sahi–fasal-- Agriculture thru the prism of water

Sahi-Fasal campaign, launched by National Water Mission in 2019 is to nudge farmers to go for the right crops which are not water intensive, suited to the agro-climatic conditions, meets the food security of the country and nutrition standards, are remunerative to the farmers and uses water efficiently. This campaign encourages farmers to diversify to the crops which give more income per drop. If the crop cannot changed, the irrigation practices can be changed to improve the water use efficiency and reduce the water foot print. It looks ate Agriculture through the prism of water usage and water use efficiency for better Demand side management. This is very important for India’s water security as over 85% of water usage in India is in agriculture sector...

‘Sahi Fasal’ campaign was launched by National Water Mission on 14.11.2019 to nudge farmers in the water stressed areas to grow crops which are not water intensive, but use water very efficiently; and are economically remunerative; are healthy and nutritious; suited to the agro-climatic-hydro characteristics of the area; and are environmentally friendly. Creating awareness among farmers on appropriate crops, micro-irrigation, soil moisture conservation etc; weaning them away from water intensive crops like paddy, sugarcane etc to crops like corn, maize etc which require less water; assisting policy makers to frame policies that make effective pricing of inputs (water and electricity); improve procurement and market for these alternate crops; create appropriate storage them etc ultimately leading to increase in the income of farmers are the key elements of “Sahi Fasal”

Under Sahi Fasal, series of workshops are being organized in the water stressed areas of the country.

In India, 85-89% of water usage is for agricultural purposes and about 5% usage is for drinking and domestic purposes. Hence, even a small percentage saving of water in agricultural usage will have a significant impact in water availability for drinking and domestic purposes.