Nagpur: Farm activist Kishor Tiwari has welcomed the decision of the Maharashtra government to make drip irrigation compulsory for sugar cane cultivation which is a water intensive crop on a large scale even during the drought years.Tiwari who heads the Shri Vasantrao Naik Shetkari Sawalamban Mission claims that he had suggested this in its recommendations submitted to the Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis a year ago asking the Maharashtra government to replace 'killer crops' like sugar cane and Bt Cotton in the 14 districts of drought-hit Vidarbha and Marathwada regions.Sugar cane is an 18-month cash crop and requires nearly 25,000 cubic metric ton (CMT) water for one hectare of the crop and if drip irrigation is introduced the state government will save nearly 7500-12500 CMT of water per hectare.As per the state government's scheme approved on Tuesday, the state government will provide a loan of Rs85,400 per hectare at subsidized interest rates of 2%. The state government aims to bring nearly 3.05 lakh hectares of the 9.42 lakh hectare under sugar cane cultivation under this scheme in the next two years. There are 2.25 lakh hectares which are already under drip irrigation.Terming sugar cane and Bt Cotton as 'killer crops', Tiwari said instead food crops like oil seeds, pulses, maize and sorghum should be encouraged with incentives and support price protection.

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