Not AvailableTo mitigate the fresh water scarcity and improving productivity, drip irrigation system is the most
efficient one. Two types of drip irrigation models to fulfill the motto of more crop per drop, were
installed for experimentation at Sonagaon village of Gosaba island, South 24 Pgs, West Bengal, India.
Model I was a solar operated with higher cost (`1.66 lakhs) whereas model II involved low cost (`45,000)
one. Performances of these two models were evaluated for increasing the water use efficiency and
cropping intensity. Four mulching treatments i.e. T1: black plastic, T2: white plastic, T3: paddy straw
and T4: control, were tested. T1 resulted in higher yield in three vegetable crops in both the kharif and
rabi seasons. Mean yield of vegetables was 43, 73 and 101% higher in paddy straw, white and black
plastic mulching over control. Resource rich farmers or those who can avail Government subsidy
could opt for model 1, whereas resource poor farmers can adopt the model 2 for increasing cropping
intensity. Besides savings in labour and water, the cropping intensity could be increased to 200-300%
by adopting these irrigation models.Not Availabl
