It is difficult to tell when Gujarat government's promises of irrigating 1.845 million hectares of land covering 3,112 villages of 73 talukas through Sardar Sarovar Project will be fulfilled.
But at least three Gujarat districts, Vadodara, Ahmedabad and Gandhinagar, where even rural parts have started receiving Narmada canal water under the SSP project after 2005, have boosted net sowing area leading to increase in crop production and crop yield.
So much is the impact that net sowing area (NSA) in Gandhinagar has seen growth rate of 168% and Vadodara 64% for oilseeds; Gandhinagar 86%, Vadodara 74% and Ahmedabad 47% for wheat and Ahmedabad 45% and Gandhinagar 39% for pulses.
This positive impact of SSP is captured in a chapter on impact of SSP on Gujarat's agriculture by Amit Garg, Swati Pathak, Neha Jhaland and Bhushan Kankal in a book titled 'Sardar Sarovar Project on River Narmada - Impacts So Far and Ways Forward'. Cept's Prof R Parthasarthy and IIMA's Prof Ravindra Dholakia are editors of the book.
The authors of the chapter have examined two aspects: NSA and crop yield before and after Narmada water was made available.
"Mean NSA in Vadodara rose from 12,000 ha to 21,000 ha after availability of Narmada water with a growth rate of 74% for wheat. Similarly, Ahmedabad had 59,000 ha NSA earlier which increased to 87,000 ha with growth rate of 47% for wheat. The same is the case with oilseeds and pulses in Gandhinagar, Vadodara and Ahmedabad districts where NSA has seen positive impact," states the chapter.
As the impact of canal water on crop yields, yields of oilseeds and pulses have increased sharply for all three districts but those of wheat have not changed much. Maximum growth in oilseeds is observed in Ahmedabad (39%) followed by Vadodara (35%) and Gandhinagar (20%). Ahmedabad and Vadodara both recorded 6% growth rate in wheat. Vadodara (54%) experienced higher growth in pulses followed by Ahmedabad (37%) and Gandhinagar (12%), states the study.
It also states that the analysis of growth rate, mean and standard deviation for pre and post canal period for selected three crops show that in most cases yield variability of crops has declined in post canal period due to timely availability of water. Also the mean yield and growth rate in yield were higher during the post canal period.
"As for the impact of canal water on gross revenue of the crops per ha, it has increased by 345% in Vadodara, 435% in Ahmedabad and 310% in Gandhinagar. Gross revenue is influenced by changes in cropped area, crop yield andminimum support price. Availability of relatively cheap and more certain canal water could also have contributed to more cultivation of wheat. Although the cost of production has risen crop prices have increased much more resulting in net revenue going up for these crops during the post canal period," the study states.
Comments