Potato and Tuber Crops

Micro Irrigation

• Micro irrigation improves efficiency of irrigation water and fertilizer nutrients.
• Under drip irrigation, moisture availability is always equal to field capacity in surface soils throughout the period of crop growth.
• The water losses are minimum under drip (4-5%) and sprinkler irrigation (15-20%) as against 40 -500/o under furrow irrigation.
• The irrigation water should efficiently be managed to sustain potato production, because, availability of water for irrigation purpose has been continuously diminishing.
• Even if we harness the total potential of natural water resources, we would be able to irrigate only 50% of cultivable land.
• With increasing water scarcity and recurring droughts in many parts of the country, use of drip and sprinkler irrigation has become extremely important.
• Farmers in Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, Gujarat, Kerala, Uttar Pradesh, Punjab and Haryana are taking steps for using these approaches for potato production.