Surface water irrigation boosts crop yields

The surface water irrigation has been yielding around 42,000 metric tonnes of additional crops annually in the region, including its vast Barind tract, for the last couple of years.

The additional yield is being produced after bringing around 55,000 hectares of land under irrigation using conserved rainwater in the region.

The Barind Multipurpose Development Authority (BMDA) has re-excavated khash canals and ponds for rainwater conservation to extend irrigation facilities in this drought-prone Barind area.

BMDA Superintending Engineer Shibir Ahmed told BSS that the five-year project titled “Barind Rainwater Conservation and Irrigation” has been implemented in nine districts under Rajshahi and Rangpur divisions costing around Tk 238.95 crore recently.

Under the project, 900-kilometre canals, 700 ponds and nine other water bodies were re-excavated with the construction of 212 water control structures and two rubber dams to promote irrigation to the farming fields.

Besides, 100 dug wells were excavated to provide drinking water to the poor people coupled with creating supplementary irrigation facilities.

On behalf of the project, three lakh fruit plant saplings and six lakh forest and medicinal plant saplings were transplanted to create additional forest resources for developing the environment and socio-economic condition of the people.

It has also created employment opportunities for day labourers and marginal farmers in agriculture improving their living and livelihood conditions through additional crop production.

As a whole, the scheme has been playing a vital role towards boosting surface water uses for irrigation purposes around the year apart from improving the environment here, a common concern of the area.

“We have scopes of enriching the surface water resources after proper retention and conservation of rainwater through re-excavating the existing derelict ponds and canals,” said Ahmed.

He said more use of surface water for irrigation has become an urgent need following the abnormal lowering of the groundwater table, especially in the high Barind tract comprising 25 upazilas of Rajshahi, Naogaon and Chapainawabganj districts.

The BMDA, a state-owned organisation, has decided to check any more installation of deep tube wells (DTW) to control the lowering of underground water tables.

Jahangir Alam Khan, Coordinator of the Integrated Water Resource Management (IWRM) Project, said there are enormous prospects of boosting irrigation by surface water in the barind area as it has scores of natural water bodies which remain in uncared and derelict condition at present.