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Not AvailableAlthough India as a whole has reached to threshold level of stress in terms of per capita water availability, but the eastern and north eastern region are surplus in water. The Andaman and Nicobar (A&N) Islands are even more lucky as they receive an average annual rainfall of about 3080 mm. About 95 percent of annual rainfall is received during May-December of which nearly 75 percent is lost as runoff to the sea due to undulated terrains and steep slopes. The Islands have a width of 15 to 40 km east to west and the slopes are from centre to either towards east or west due to which the length of drainage line to the sea is short. Because of this, there is only one perennial river Kalpong in North Andaman Island. Thus the actual water availability is much less and Islands faces severe problem of water scarcity even for drinking water. The Islands have become a major tourist destination not only for the national but also international tourists. In order to support the tourist driven economy of the Islands, the emphasis should be to produce adequate perishable items in these Islands rather than transporting from mainland. However, the irrigation potential created is just 3% and actual irrigated area is about 1%. Therefore, the focus of water development should be irrigation to crops apart from drinking water. As rainwater is the only source of the fresh water availability in these Islands, its harvesting, storage and recycling is the most important strategy for water resource management. Studies at CARI has shown that if only 3% of the water which flows out is stored in surface and underground storage, the requirement of domestic and agriculture can be met. To achieve the goals of providing sufficient water for domestic purpose and irrigation to cultivated area, a policy is required to develop and manage water resources on a sustainable basis without endangering the fragile Island ecosystem. This document is a step in this direction and is based on open discussion with stakeholders during brainstorming session held at CARI Port Blair on 7th and 8th July, 2009. We express our heartiest gratitude to Dr. Mangala Rai, DG (ICAR) and Secretary (DARE), Government of India for providing effective leadership and guidance for taking up this task. We are grateful to Dr. H.P. Singh, Deputy Director General (Horticulture) for encouragement and inspiration. We extend our special thanks to Shri Vivek Rae, Chief Secretary, A&N Administration for chairing the special theme session and suggesting valuable comments on the draft paper. We are highly thankful to Dr. S.S. Magar, Chairman, Research Advisory Committee of CARI for his encouragement and support. We also wish to extend our sincere thanks to Shri S.S. Chaudhury, PCCF, Shri Khajan Singh, PCCF (Wild life), Shri G.C. Saxena, Secretary, IP&T, Shri Alok Saxena, CCF, Shri R.K. Ghosh, Chief Engineer, APWD, Colonel S.S. Multani, ANC, Sh. S.N. Jha, Dy. Commissioner, South Andaman and other officials of A&N Administration for knowledge sharing during the special theme session. We also place on record our special thanks to Dr. M.S. Gill, Director, PDCSR, Modipuram, Dr. M.A. Khan, Director, ICAR-RCER, Patna, participants of the brainstorming session and the faculty members of CARI for their active and constructive suggestions. We hope that this publication would serve as a useful document to the planners, policy makers and researchers involved with development of water resources in the Union Territory of A&N IslandsNot Availabl

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Not AvailableThe agriculture in the A&N Islands is about 100 years old. Up to the end of IV Five Year Plan, the major stress was mounted under area expansion of agriculture to achieve self-sufficiency in food grains. From V Plan onwards, the thrust was diverted from area expansion to intensive agriculture practices and development of plantations on the hilly slopes. Presently, the emphasis is on increasing the area and production through crop diversification from traditional food crops and optimum exploitation of cultivable wastelands. The demand for produce from allied sectors like horticulture, animal husbandry and fisheries far exceeds the supply opening greater avenues for further development. Besides ensuring nutritional security, these products have the potential for exports in value added form. Diversification towards horticulture and livestock therefore has to be very major component to achieve expected growth rate under agriculture sector. The major crop-wise distribution of the area is about 8139 ha under paddy followed by pulses and oilseeds during rabi, about 21760 ha under coconut and 4152 ha under arecanut. In agriculture sector the production of food grains, vegetables and fruits has been far below the local demand. Consequently, the Union Territory Government has been importing rice, wheat, pulses, vegetables and other agricultural commodities from the mainland recurrently. The gap between supply and demand would increase as population of the island increases. This warrants for concerted efforts to develop new agricultural technologies suited to the specific agro-ecological conditions of these islands. The effective transfer of technologies so developed to the farming community is needed to improve sufficiency status in major food items, particularly the perishable commodities and rice at sustainable scale.In sum, A&N Islands are blessed with wide bio-diversity and vast natural resources. Vision 2030 is an attempt to enlist the potential thematic areas and analyse the strength and weakness of this sectors to focus research activities so that the expected outcomes can be delivered within the stipulated time to developmental departments and other implementing agencies.Not Availabl

Water Management Technologies for Different Agro-Ecological Conditions

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Not AvailableThe management of agricultural land to improve farm income in coastal degraded (waterlogged saline soil) areas is quite challenging due natural calamities. Under such fragile environment sustaining the livelihoods of these resources poor farmers become a real challenge both for technology developers as well as policy makers. In the coastal area the land shaping technique, particularly farm pond and paddy-cum fish models, are unique technology for addressing the key challenges like land degradation (salinity), drainage congestion and scarcity of fresh water for irrigation and in turn have the potential to enhancing production, productivity, income and employment. These techniques particularly farm pond, paddy-cum-fish, salt tolerant variety and agronomic practice are a financially viable and attractive proposition for the degraded lands of coastal ecosystem.ICA

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Not AvailableRice is the staple food for half of the world’s population, and rice farming is a livelihood for millions of farmers in Asia. In India, it provides an individual with 32% of the total calorie and 24% of the total protein daily. This crop is mostly grown in puddled soil by transplanting, and flood irrigation is practised by farmers. Water or irrigation input to transplanted rice typically ranges from 1000 to 2000 mm depending upon the growing season, climatic condition, soil type and hydrological conditions. Facing water scarcity and climate change, reducing water requirement of this crop is a challenge. Out of 42.75 million hectare (m ha) rice area, only 25.12 m ha is under irrigation. Regarding water resources, depletion of groundwater is alarming in the north Indian states. On the other hand, it is under-utilized in eastern India. Microirrigation, i.e. sprinkler and drip methods have been used with the aim of minimizing water use and enhancing water use efficiency of rice. In addition, evidence-based scientific understandings on microirrigation for rice have been elucidated in this article. The potential of drip or sprinkler irrigation to rice on water saving as well as scientific insight and critical appraisal have been expounded on reasons of yield reduction. This comprehensive treatise would facilitate the formulation of strategies or policies on efficient management of water or irrigation for rice cultivation.Not Availabl

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Not AvailableSoil and water salinity, waterlogging, and a lack of good quality irrigation water are the principal con-straints affecting the productivity of the coastal areas in the humid tropical region. The present studywas conducted at four sites in the coastal lowlands of the Andaman Islands to assess the impact of apermanent raised bed and furrow (RBF) system on waterlogging and salinity. The RBF system improvedthe drainage of the raised beds, maintained a favorable soil moisture content, harvested rain water to amaximum depth of 120 cm, and prevented the entry of tidal and runoff water into the furrow. Betweenthe years 2009 and 2014, the soil salinity in the raised beds was reduced by 85% from the initial level of10.9 dS m−1during three distinct phases namely, the lag phase, the leaching phase and the equilibriumphase which were recognized based on their rate of reduction of salinity Similarly significant reduc-tions were observed in seasonal variations and in the vertical salinity gradient. Interannual variationsin salinity closely followed the rainfall pattern, particularly during the dry period. The data showedsignificant reduction in the concentration of soluble ions (e.g., Na+, Ca2++ Mg2+, Cl−and SO42−). In addi-tion, over the years the salinity and sodium toxicity in the furrow water decreased and became suitablefor irrigation and fish culture. In contrast, the coastal lowlands adjoining the RBF system experiencedwaterlogging (5–81 cm) and high levels of salinity (3.0–9.1 dS m−1), which closely corresponded with therainfall patterns. Multiple linear regression models were developed to predict the surface soil salinity ofthe RBF system separately for the monsoon (r2= 0.56) and dry seasons (r2= 0.63). Waterlogging and salin-ity peaks in different seasons require a different management strategy, but the RBF system was effectivein addressing this challenge together. The findings from this study would equally apply to other humidtropical coastal regions, provided that considerations are given to the inherent soil properties and thelocal hydrology

Biennial Report (2010-12) of AICRP on Management of Salt Affected Soils and Use of Saline Water in Agriculture

Indian Council of Agricultural Researc

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Not AvailableIn Andaman and Nicobar (A&N) Islands, about 30,000 ha area is under plantation and spice crops in hilly lands and 8,800 ha area is under rice cultivation in low-lying land. In general, hilly lands face the problem of soil erosion during wet season and water scarcity during dry season whereas coastal low-lying lands are mostly waterlogged during wet season whereas no water is available for second crop during dry season. In addition, some of these low-lying lands also face the problem of soil and water salinity due to sea water ingress. With reference to A&N Islands, eroded hilly lands, saline/waterlogged areas fall in the category of degraded land and water areas. Therefore, these low-lying areas are generally mono-cropped with low yielding rice cultivation that gives low economic returns and limits the options of livelihood. In plantation crops on hilly areas, soil conservation measures, multi-tier cropping along with introduction of micro-irrigation system may help in improving the land and water productivity. In low-lying paddy areas, appropriate agricultural land drainage coupled with land shaping techniques and other supplementary activities such as introduction of salt tolerant/ long duration high yielding rice varieties, vermi-composting may help these degraded areas for crop diversification and multiple cropping to increase the overall farm productivity, income and thus livelihood security.Not Availabl

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Not AvailableAbstract Irrigation water is one of the scarcest but critical resources for agricultural production and most of the arid and semi-arid regions are usually underlain by aquifers of poor quality. A field experiment was conducted for four years during rabi season to assess the impact of saline water irrigation and organic input management options for sustaining productivity of high value spice crop fennel (var. Hisar Swarup HF-33). Saline water of low (ECiw, 2 dS m-1) and high (ECiw 8.6 dS m-1) salinity were used for irrigation. These types of waters are commonly encountered in arid and semi-arid regions. Eight inorganic and organic input options were used to verify the hypothesis whether the adverse effect of saline water irrigations can be mitigated through organic inputs. Surprisingly the average seed yield of fennel with low and high saline water use was almost at par (1.56 ± 0.02 t ha-1) showing its suitability for saline irrigation. Average seed yield of fennel under inorganic and organic input treatments ranged from 1.4 to 1.7 t ha-1. The trend in yield over the years reveals that application of organic inputs in various combinations can play an important role in sustaining the yield through improvement in fertility of salt-affected soils especially when irrigated with poor quality waters. Amongst all the combinations, farmyard manure + vermi-compost (50:50 ratios for equivalent N) produced economically remunerative and sustainable yield over the years with a net income of about Rs 124 thousand per ha.Not Availabl

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Not AvailableSoil and water salinity, waterlogging, and a lack of good quality irrigation water are the principal constraints affecting the productivity of the coastal areas in the humid tropical region. The present study was conducted at four sites in the coastal lowlands of the Andaman Islands to assess the impact of a permanent raised bed and furrow (RBF) system on waterlogging and salinity. The RBF system improved the drainage of the raised beds, maintained a favorable soil moisture content, harvested rain water to a maximum depth of 120 cm, and prevented the entry of tidal and runoff water into the furrow. Between the years 2009 and 2014, the soil salinity in the raised beds was reduced by 85% from the initial level of10.9 dS m−1 during three distinct phases namely, the lag phase, the leaching phase and the equilibrium phase which were recognized based on their rate of reduction of salinity Similarly significant reductions were observed in seasonal variations and in the vertical salinity gradient. Inter-annual variations in salinity closely followed the rainfall pattern, particularly during the dry period. The data showed significant reduction in the concentration of soluble ions (e.g., Na+, Ca2++ Mg2+, Cl−and SO42−). In addition, over the years the salinity and sodium toxicity in the furrow water decreased and became suitable for irrigation and fish culture. In contrast, the coastal lowlands adjoining the RBF system experienced waterlogging (5–81 cm) and high levels of salinity (3.0–9.1 dS m−1), which closely corresponded with the rainfall patterns. Multiple linear regression models were developed to predict the surface soil salinity of the RBF system separately for the monsoon (r2= 0.56) and dry seasons (r2= 0.63). Waterlogging and salinity peaks in different seasons require a different management strategy, but the RBF system was effective in addressing this challenge together. The findings from this study would equally apply to other humid tropical coastal regions, provided that considerations are given to the inherent soil properties and the local hydrology.Not Availabl