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Photo credits: IWMI
One of farmer Bablu Jana’s four workers irrigates a new crop of celery.
Jana uses water from a nearby lake to irrigate his 17 katha plot of land near the busy EM Bypass in Kolkata, India. Jana grows Chinese vegetables, which have seen a surge in demand due to the popularity of Chinese restaurants. He grows lettuce, celery, Chinese cabbage, garlic leaves, etc. year-round. He says Chinese vegetables need water. So he has a pump that draws water from a nearby lake. In summer, the lake dries up. Then local farmers chip in 500 Indian rupees each and give it to the owner of the lake, who then draws water from a nearby canal. He has four workers who help him irrigate and cultivate the land.
1 Kata Land = 2880 sq.ft
1 Indian Rupee = 55 US Dollars
http://www.iwmi.cgiar.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/05/karnataka-india-2.jpg
Wastewater irrigation in Karnataka
India is urbanizing rapidly. As cities expand, more food is grown near built-up areas, or even within urban agglomerations. For farmers of perishable produce such as vegetables, producing near urban markets makes sense: there is demand year-round, and freshness is guaranteed. But the biggest drawback is access to land and water. Plots near cities can quickly become expensive, and water may be siphoned off for domestic and industrial use.
One way to address this problem is to use municipal wastewater to irrigate crops. This has the added benefit of increasing crop yields because wastewater is often rich in nutrients. In the summer months when fresh water is scarce and expensive, wastewater may be the only cost-effective irrigation option for many growers.
With a population of just over 60 million, Karnataka is one of the most urbanized states in India. According to India’s Central Pollution Control Board, Karnataka generated more than 3,700 MLD (million liters per day) of wastewater per day in 2015. However, the state’s sewage treatment capacity is only 1,300 MLD, meaning that nearly 65% of wastewater is discharged into water bodies without treatment, deteriorating water quality.
Untreated wastewater often carries pathogens and other dangerous toxins, but many farmers continue to use this water for irrigation because it is the only source of water available to them.
So how do farmers in Karnataka perceive the risks of using wastewater? A new study recently published inPolicy brief from IWMI-Tata Water Policy Research Initiativetried to find out. The researchers surveyed farmers around the cities of Hublidharwad and Vijayapura. A representative sample of 43 farms was studied in detail to assess the costs and benefits of wastewater irrigation. Twenty-six of the sample farms used wastewater, while the remaining 16 used groundwater.
Read the full article: IWMI
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