BADC move to increase use of surface water irrigation

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Yasir Wardad Bangladesh Agricultural Development Corporation (BADC) has taken 42 projects worth Tk 3.94 billion to increase use of surface water irrigation, officials said. "The government is thinking to stop sinking of more tubewells for drawing groundwater for irrigation purpose. We are stressing digging canals, dredging rivers and excavating other water bodies to maximise use of surface water," chief engineer of minor irrigation (MI) at BADC Md Aktar Hossain Khan said. Talking to the FE he said: "Following the massive fall in ground water level which is making difficulties in irrigation, BADC has taken 42 projects which will be implemented between 2011-12 FY and 2013-14 FY." The MI chief engineer said: "The projects are also important concerned to the reduction of water by upstream countries, climate change and other disasters". "The new projects would notably increase surface water use to produce food-crops", he expressed his optimism. However, he informed that the projects would be passed by the Executive Committee of the National Economic Council (ECNEC) soon. According to the second groundwater zoning map of the country by Minor Irrigation Information Services Unit (MIISU) of BADC, the area critical to ground water level increased by 17 per cent between 2004 and 2010 from over 14,000 square km (skm) to 17,000 skm in the country. The report said that the groundwater in the range of 9.8 to 11.3 metres below the surface were found in those areas from where Shallow Tube Wells (STW) can't draw required quantity of water for farming while the areas where STWs can't lift water at all rose by 45 per cent in 2010 from 2004. MI chief Khan told the FE that the country's irrigation is mainly dry season irrigation headed by Boro crop. He said the Boro rice area in the country is nearly 5.217 million hectares of which 79.10 per cent are ground water irrigation and only 20.10 per cent are surface water based. He expressed his opinion that the government should finance and initiate more projects to reduce ground water use aiming to save the country from any crop disaster. BADC officials said 22 projects out of 44 new projects would be implemented in coastal region to facilitate irrigation in fallow lands and to protect salinity. They said, BADC had also been implementing 30 new more projects concerned to surface water irrigation and another 22 projects to strengthen infrastructure of the corporation. The country uses more than 1.6 million irrigation pumps in the country in Boro season including 1.4 million STW and 0.2 million deep tubewell and low lift pumps, according to BADC.