Top 8 ways for Water Conservation in Agriculture

Farmers are the true influencer of the nation’s water supply. Agriculture places some of the greatest demands on fresh water in India and around the world. Farmers are optimizing water usage and contributing a great part to conserve one of the most precious resource of nature, and also produce healthier crops, all with less water.

I’m Tapsendra Patel and in this article we will discuss the strategies for water conservation for both agriculture and urban landscapes .

1. Increasing Water-use efficiency :-

Water-use efficiency is a good place to begin a discussion of water conservation.
There are mainly three ways to improving water-use efficiency.
One is to capture more of the water from precipitation in the root zone of crop plants. This means improving the infiltration rate and reducing percolation and Having captured more water in soil.
the second step is to reduce consumptive use. Consumptive use is the sum of the water lost by evapotranspiration and the amount contained water in plant tissues. About 1 % to 10 % of total consumptive water is actually becomes part of the plant and 90 % to 99 % of the total is lost due to evapotranspiration.
The third way to improve water-use efficiency is by improving irrigation systems. To capture into the root zone more of the water landing on a field, a farmer can improve infiltration or reduce deep percolation. *Slope increases runoff and decreases infiltration.*

2. Building of Terraces :- 

Terraces have long been used to capture runoff water. Terraces consist of a series of low ridges and shallow channels running across the slope, or on the contour. All terraces are built to control runoff But sometimes, in humid areas, the main concern is to control erosion. In drier areas, the primary purpose of terracing is to increase moisture in the soil. To save moisture, terraces are designed to cause ponding of water on the terrace, giving water time to infiltrate. Container often alter their topography to capture rainfall and excess irrigation water and direct it into holding ponds for reuse. Contour tillage is practiced by using all equipment across the slope, on the contour. By this practice we can make many tiny ridges across the slope and water ponds behind these ridges gives it time to infiltrate the water in soil.

3. Strip-cropping :- 

Strip-cropping slows runoff water by alternating bands of different crops across the slope. One band may be a row crop that leaves most of the soil bare, such as corn or soybeans. The next band would be a close-growing crop (small grains), or a crop that completely covers the soil, such as hay. The close-growing strips slow water, and allow it to be utilized by plants.

4. Increase Soil moisture Absorption rate :-

A second way to decrease runoff is to improve the rate at which soil absorbs moisture. The soil’s physical properties of texture, structure, and permeability set the infiltration rate. Sub soiling, or deep plowing, shatters plowpans resulting from years of tillage, letting water seep deeper into the soil. At the same time, it allows roots access to deeper soil levels.

5. Mulching :- 

Mulch strongly improves infiltration by eliminating crusting and improving surface soil structure. Mulch protects the soil surface from the impact of raindrops. Studies show that mulched soil absorbs water 2 to 4 times better than bare soil. Farmers or growers of high-value crops may mulch with straw, leaves, or grass clippings. Landscapers uses gravel, wood powder, shredded barks, or other materials. In farm fields, conservation tillage leaves a mulch of crop residues on the soil surface can work great.

6. Reduce Percolation :- 

Water drains very quickly through coarse soils which, causes high percolation losses, which are difficult to reduce. The most practical way to reduce percolation losses is by improving the water-holding capacity by maintaining the organic matter level. Because topsoil is usually the most moisture losing soil layer and thus reducing erosion in it is also important.

7. Lowering Evapotranspiration rate :-

Warm temperatures, wind, and low relative humidity all to gather increases evapotranspiration. Farmers can lower evaporation from soil by covering the soil surface with vegetation or mulch, shading the soil, and reducing wind velocity at the soil surface. Shading the soil with crops means to grow such type of crops which can covers the soil quickly by there canopy. Mulches have the additional benefit of acting as a barrier to moisture movement. Mulch not only to preserve moisture but also used for weed control and other purposes. Reducing the number of tillage operations helps control evaporative losses. Each time the soil is worked, moist soil is dragged to the upper surface where it can dry soon. Transpiration may be reduced directly by coating leaves with a material that reduces water loss through stomata and leaf surfaces. . Another method of reducing transpiration is to plant windbreaks to cut the wind.  Another way to conserve moisture is to help plants make better use of soil water. This allows greater production with the same amount of water.

8. Managing Good soil fertility :- 

Adequate levels of nitrogen and phosphorus increase the size and depth of root systems and lower the transpiration ratio. Selecting crops in dry areas with a low transpiration ratio, such as sorghum, reduces the need for irrigation. New crops can be an answer, but breeders also search for more drought-tolerant varieties of established crops like corn.

In conclusion, many techniques for improving water-use efficiency have been outlined  such as capturing more water on the land, improving the soil-infiltration rate, and reducing consumptive use, etc. 

 - TAPSENDRA PATEL