JAIPUR: The College of Technology and Engineering (CTAE) in Udaipur has been awarded by vice-president Venkaiah Naidu in New Delhi for developing a ‘farm model’ for doubling the income of the farmers. The award was given in the category of doubling the food productivity. The agricultural department of the college has practically demonstrated the 'model' in five villages of Gogunda tehsil of Udaipur by introducing integrated framing system and water resources development—innovative and technological interventions.The target of double income was ascertained by AICTE by doing door-to-door survey before the project was shortlisted for the award. The project was funded by Udaipur MP Arjun Lal Meena under the Adarsh Gram Yojna. The project drew the interest of Meena as it is related to PM Narendra Modi’s project of doubling the income of farmers by 2023. Abhay Kumar Sharma, professor and dean at agricultural department, headed the project chose the five villages which had recorded poor productivity due to shortage of water and underutilization of resources.“A study was made on the crop pattern of these villages along with social profile of farmers. The practical aspect of the project was started during 2017 monsoon to tap the rain water by constructing small water dams at the strategic positions followed by the training sessions based on practical demonstration. The result is overwhelming as the ground water table in these villages have improved and villagers end up using the stored water for irrigation for Rabi crops,” said Sharma.The income was double not by merely doubling the production but by axing the cost of production, creating additional income channels and reducing the dependence on the ground water for irrigation which forms the biggest cost, introducing high yielding varieties of crops and less water requiring crops.“The soil health cards played a vital role in achieving the aim. The profile of the soil has helped us in guiding the farmers about the crops and crops combination they can grow,” said PK Singh, professor soil and water engineering, which is also part of the project. The farmers were given the demonstration of growing over 100 types of crops.

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