Gandhinagar: The state govt said on Tuesday that 1.20 lakh hectares of agricultural land was covered under micro-irrigation in 2024-25. Banaskantha district ranks first in the adoption of micro-irrigation techniques, followed by Junagadh and Rajkot districts.
Micro-irrigation is a water delivery system that uses low water pressure and flow to water plants directly. Drippers and sprinklers are the most widely used methods of micro-irrigation in the state.
An official statement said that since the micro-irrigation scheme was launched in Gujarat in 2005 through the Gujarat Green Revolution Company (GGRC), 15.76 lakh farmers adopted micro-irrigation techniques and used these over an area of 24.34 lakh hectares.
These farmers received assistance of Rs 8,864.25 crore under the micro-irrigation scheme, with the Gujarat govt contributing Rs 5,538.78 crore and the govt of India contributing Rs 3,325.47 crore, the statement said.
In terms of the area covered under micro-irrigation, Banaskantha district ranks first in the state with 4,77,000 hectares, followed by Junagadh with 1,81,000 hectares and Rajkot with 1,32,000 hectares.
The statement said that out of the total 24.34 lakh hectares covered under micro-irrigation in Gujarat, 20.02 lakh hectares are for agricultural crops and 4.32 lakh hectares are for horticultural crops. Among major agricultural crops, micro-irrigation covers 10.76 lakh hectares for groundnut, 7.35 lakh hectares for cotton, and 1.6 lakh hectares for sugarcane. In horticultural crops, 2.11 lakh hectares are covered for potatoes, 32,000 hectares for bananas, 18,000 hectares for mangoes, and 84,000 hectares for vegetables.