Chamba
Saluni farmers took advantage of the scheme and increased their income by producing off-season vegetables in their fields.
The irrigation schemes of the Agriculture Department have proved to be a boon for the farmers of Saluni sub-division, which is leading in the production of off-season vegetables. Taking advantage of these irrigation schemes, farmers of the sub-division are sending crops worth crores to the markets. After joining the business of off-season vegetables, farmers have emerged as financially self-reliant. It is noteworthy that the geographical area of district Chamba is about 692 thousand hectares. In this only 41.80 thousand hectares of land is cultivated. Maize, paddy and wheat are the main cereal crops here. Apart from this, vegetables are produced in about 2200 hectares of area. Most of the off-season vegetables are produced in the development blocks of the district, Saluni, Teesa and Pangi. Peas, tomatoes and beans are non-seasonal and main cash crops. Among the off-season vegetables, about 32 thousand quintals of soil, 75 hundred quintals of French beans, 44 hundred quintals of tomatoes, 34 hundred quintals of cauliflower and cabbage are marketed from district Chamba to other districts of the state and neighboring states. But due to irrigation facility being available on only 3-5 percent cultivable land in Saluni and Teesa development blocks, farmers were not taking interest in farming due to uncertainty in vegetable cultivation in Rabi season due to low yield. In view of these problems of the farmers, the Agriculture Department, through various schemes, transported water from far-flung drains to the farmers’ fields on 100 percent subsidy.
Dr. Kuldeep Dhiman, Deputy Director of Agriculture Department, Chamba, says that the farmers of the area were linked to various schemes run by the government for irrigation facilities. Farmers have benefited greatly from this. He told that after installing the sprinkler irrigation system, water is saved. Therefore, more area can be irrigated with less water. Secondly, time is saved in irrigation and the yield increases by providing the right amount of water to the plants.
