Lockdown Innovation: Odisha Man Uses Saline Pipes For Drip Irrigation

Dhenkanal: Jayaguru Patra of Bhuban block here is earning praise from agriculturists and horticulturists for developing an innovative system of drip irrigation that reuses saline pipes.

The 45-year-old plant lover has been successfully using waste saline pipes for plants, which have short and long gestation periods, including vegetables and flower plants in Nigamananda Udyan, a community area in Bhuban.

Patra hit upon this low-cost investment that also requires less water during the pandemic-induced lockdown. “I first used a half-inch wiring pipe at my home garden and used saline pipes for drip irrigation connected to an overhead water tank to alternate between slow and speed watering for different plants for a month. After I achieved success, I planted 57 varieties of plants including ashwagandha, cinnamon, agasthi and ashok, and other flowering and fruit-bearing plants at Nigamananda Udyan and its been six months that I have been watering them using this system,” he told The New Indian Express (TNIE).

This method of drip irrigation could help poor farmers grow vegetables on a commercial basis and promote kitchen gardens since the government-sponsored drip irrigation facility is very expensive and involves high maintenance cost.

Patra uses organic manure as fertiliser for these plants. Farmers of various blocks have been visiting the garden out of curiosity to know more about the saline pipe system of irrigation, Pravat Kumar Kanar, Ward-1 president of Bhuban NAC told TNIE.