On December 22, 2019 the website of the Pradhan Mantri Krishi Sinchayee Yojana (PMKSY) (https://pmksy.gov.in) released the data on states with coverage of area under micro-irrigation (MI) for the year 2019. As per the data, Tamil Nadu(TN) topped the list in coverage under micro-irrigation. Out of the 3.64 lakh hectares brought under MI, TN accounts for around 1.39 lakh hectares, i.e., 38% of the total coverage in the country.
Data on coverage under micro-irrigation for 2019
i.Other top ranked states: TN was followed by Gujarat, Andhra Pradesh(AP), Maharashtra, Uttar Pradesh(UP) in the 2nd, 3rd, 4th and 5th place respectively.
ii.Area coverage: Gujarat covered 77,858 hectares of area, AP covered 52,027 hectares, Maharashtra covered 36,831 hectares and Uttar Pradesh covered 25,680 hectares of area.
iii.TN targets to cover more area: With about three months (January to March) to go for the end of the current fiscal year (FY 2019-20), TN hoped to cover around 1 lakh more hectares of area. It targets 2.5 lakh hectares.
iv.Orders issued till now in TN: As of now, work orders for about 3 lakh hectares have been issued. A total of Rs.700 crores has been spent. The govt. also plans to spend Rs. 670 crore for the installation of MI systems, including sprinkler and drip irrigation.
v.Subsidy to Farmers: As part of the Central scheme PMKSY, small and marginal farmers will be given 100% subsidy for the establishment of the systems while big farmers will be given 75% subsidy.
vi.Pumpsets sanctioned in TN:
The Centre has sanctioned for installation of 17,500 solar agricultural pumpsets in TN. This has been done under the Pradhan Mantri Kisan Urja Suraksha evem Utthan Mahabhiyan (PM-Kusum) scheme.
- Pumpset feature: The capacity of the pump sets will be 5 horse power (HP) and 7 HP. The officials are also planning to have the solar pump sets.
| Rank | Area coverage under micro-irrigation |
| 1 | Tamil Nadu |
| 2 | Gujarat |
| 3 | Andhra Pradesh |
About Pradhan Mantri Krishi Sinchayee Yojana(PMKSY):
Fact- It is a national mission to improve farm productivity and ensure better utilization of the resources in the country that aims to improve on-farm water use efficiency through a number of measures such as MI.
Launch- 1st July, 2015.
Scheme outlay- Rs. 50,000 crores for a period of 5 years (2015-16 to 2019-20).
Agency responsible- Ministry of water resources, ministry of rural development, ministry of agriculture.
