ICAR Research Complex for Eastern Region (ICAR-RCER),

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Management of rain, surface and ground waters

Under the study on development of operational plans/ strategies for efficient water allocation and distribution from Patna canal in Bihar, it was observed that there was a large gap between water release and irrigation requirement. In order to minimize the gap between water supply and irrigation requirement, OPTALL model based on quadratic programming technique was employed. It was found that the optimal water allocation schedule is much better than actual release and supply demand ratio is never more than 1.0, whereas in case of actual release, in many distributaries, it is much higher than 1.0 indicating inequitable water distribution.
In order to promote multiple uses of water to improve the productivity of canal/ground water by routing it through a fish pond-cum-secondary reservoir and weekly exchange of water, the studies indicate that fish harvest upto 10 t/ha as additional income can be obtained.
Out of the three interventions on multiple uses of seasonally waterlogged lands in the canal commands, canal seepage fed secondary reservoir supplemented by tube well yielded Rs.1,32,000/ha income from horticulture on bunds (banana, guava, lemon and vegetables), fishery, and duckery besides irrigation for cereal production. Fish trenches-cum-raised bed intervention yielded a benefit of around Rs.85,000/ha from horticulture and fish production. Under the rice-fish system, rice production improved due to stocking of fish. Whereas, rice yield increased by 4-13 per cent, income increased by 32 per cent by stocking poly-cultured fish @ 30,000 yearlings/ha as compared to solo rice cultivation.
The Complex has developed and demonstrated a participatory approach for water and land management with wider stakeholders participation. Under DFID project, participatory process was developed and demonstrated for efficient management of land and water resources by involving constant dialogues, communication products and wider constituency of stakeholders.
A simple water balance spreadsheet model was developed which was further linked with GIS. The tool helps in analyzing the availability and demand and suggesting various water management options. The tool was demonstrated and discussed with water users, canal managers and other stakeholders to get their feedback for further implementation.
A tool for analyzing the tubewell and canal irrigation was developed in Visual Basic in Hindi and English and was demonstrated in the study area. This tool explores option for economic use of canal and groundwater conjunctively in a distributary command. It facilitated community members in understanding the concept of conjunctive use and its implications in enhancing crop water productivity.
Farmers of RPC – V adopted low cost interventions like maximum utilization of rainwater by raising bund height, canal management by installing low cost wooden gates, adoption of improved irrigation practices in rice and wheat, conjunctive use of water, multiple use of water logged areas by including rice-fish and fish production.
Studies on water productivity assessment in the outlet commands of RP Channel-V Distributary of Patna Main Canal and two tubewell commands in Vaishali district indicate that crop water productivity (Rs/m 3) considering applied water varied from 4.79 to 8.39 and considering water used it ranged between 2.57 to 3.33 in the outlet commands. In tubewell commands, crop water productivity ranged between 14.03 to 29.61.Similarly total water productivity (Rs/m 3) including crops, livestock, fish and trees, considering applied water varied in the range of 5.28 to 10.66, while for total water used it ranged between 2.83 to 4.23 in the outlet commands. In tubewell commands, total water productivity ranged from 18.09 to 38.73 for applied water and 3.09 to 3.68 for total water used.