'Shift from canal to drip irrigation for cane crop'

Union minister of agriculture Sharad Pawar on Sunday said there was no alternative than to shift from canal irrigation to drip irrigation for the sugarcane crop.

He was addressing the governing council meeting of the Vasantdada Sugar Institute (VSI) at Manjri in Pune. Deputy chief minister Ajit Pawar, National Sugar Factories Federation president Kallappanna Awade, Maharashtra State Federation of Cooperative Sugar Factories president Vijaysinh Mohite-Patil, vice-president of VSI Shivajirao Giridhar Patil, governing council members Narendra Murkumbi and Ashok Pawar and VSI director general Shivajirao Deshmukh were present.

Pawar said the sugar factories should convert the entire sugarcane crop to drip irrigation from canal irrigation. He said since there is not much cultivation of sugarcane for growing seeds this season due to standing crop being converted to fodder to tackle the drought situation, factories would have to encourage cultivation for seed production for the next season.

Shivajirao Patil informed reporters that even though the sugarcane crop occupied six per cent cultivated area in the state, the crop was consuming 60 per cent of the water used for irrigation in the state. This was discussed during the governing council meeting.