Mr. Dushyant Dipakkumar Champaneri is a Ph.D. (Horticulture) Vegetable Science Research Scholar at ASPEE College of Horticulture and Forestry, Navsari Agricultural University, Navsari, Gujarat. To know more view https://bit.ly/3IchL9X
Mr. Dushyant Dipakkumar Champaneri says “Water is becoming scarcer day by day and less than 1% of the total 2.75% of available fresh water on the Earth is potentially available to the plants as 60% of available fresh water for farming is wasted. Agriculture is going to face complex challenges between now and 2050 to satisfy an estimated population of 10 billion as more water will be needed to produce the estimated 70% of extra food. More emphasis needs to be given to fulfilling the requirements of irrigated agriculture as it doubles crop yield in comparison to rain-fed agriculture. It is, therefore, necessary to increase irrigated agriculture by 20% to achieve targeted yield in crops which is only possible by maximizing WUE through optimum management of available irrigation water. Deficit irrigation (DI) is an optimization strategy in which crops are irrigated below the full evapotranspiration level which deliberately allows crops to sustain some degree of water deficit. This may lead to a decrease in yield minimally, with a significant increase in WUE. Minimal yield decrease can be compensated by increasing cropping area with saved water. This technology requires careful consideration of various aspects of DI viz. types of DI, method of application, physiology of DI and crop sensitivity towards water stress.”