DoneKolhapur: The state's recent decision to bring sugar cane-cultivated land under drip irrigation has drawn mixed reactions from sugar experts and farmers.On Tuesday, the state announced its decision to bring area in sugarcane crop under drip irrigation. It also offered loans up to Rs 85,000 with multilateral concession on interest payments.Western Maharashtra is known for abundance of water resources. Its proximity to the Western Ghats assures sustainable water supply to rivers.The rest of the state has, however, been reeling under consecutive drought-like situations for the past four years. Sugar cane crop is infamous for its requirements of water. To keep a check on water usage and maintain soil fertility, the state has laid down a long-term strategy using drip irrigation.Unlike the rest of the state, western Maharashtra has several challenges while implementing drip irrigation. However experts say that though there are several challenges from landholdings, traditional river irrigation methods, delays in government subsidies, drip irrigation is a prerequisite for sustainable agriculture in western Maharashtra.District agricultural superintendent Basavraj Mastoli, said, "Drip irrigation is a prerequisite of sustainable agriculture. The traditional methods of sugar cane irrigation need a higher requirement of water that further paves the way for saline soil. Kolhapur has more water bodies than other districts. River-based irrigation is a dominant type of irrigation in the district."He added that farmers have formed cooperative water lift irrigation societies across district. "They lift water from the respective rivers and irrigate their fields. Therefore, it is a challenge for us to move these farmers to drip irrigation. For small and marginal farmers, group drip irrigation is a more viable technique."City-based sugar expert P G Medhe, however, said they had advocating drip irrigation for years. "The government has now chalked out a long-term plan for implementation of drip irrigation. This method consumes less water and gives a boost to production. It is also important to maintain soil health."He went on to say that the loan sanctioned by the state is not enough to implement the scheme. "It requires almost Rs 60,000 to install a drip irrigation system in a one-acre plot of land. The government should therefore revisit the normative price it had set. Group farming is not a viable option for marginal farmers," Medhe said.Balgond Patil, a farmer from Herale village in Hatkanangale taluka, who recently set up the drip irrigation system at his farm says he is yet to receive a subsidy. "I have not received the subsidy on drip irrigation for the past four months despite frequent follow ups, he said.The farmer added that there are are many issues regarding the drip irrigation technique. "The method is possible only when there are water storage facilities like wells and water tanks. But most of farmers in the district lift water from rivers to irrigate their fields. When they will implement drip irrigation, they need basic infrastructure like water tanks or wells to store water for continuous irrigation. This needs additional funds," Patil said.

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