Floods:Swaminathan for changing cropping pattern

New Delhi, Sep 11 (UNI) Renowned agricultural scientist and Member of Parliament Dr M S Swaminathan today said the adverse effect of floods and droughts on agriculture can be minimised by using cold and drought tolerant varieties of crops which were available now.

''With these tolerant varieties, we can restructure the cropping patterns of the chronically flood prone areas of Assam, Bihar and other states in such a manner that the flood free period become the major farming season,'' he said.

Similarly drought and salinity tolerant varieties were now becoming easily available thanks to advances in technology, he said.

''We really need both flood and drought codes, which can provide a road map for minimising their adverse impact,'' he said.

Dr Swaminathan was speaking at the first National Congress on Ground Water inaugurated by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh here.

He also said the water crisis being experienced in some parts of the country was more related to management than to scarcity.

The ground water today meets 80 to 90 per cent of the drinking water needs and over 70 per cent of irrigation water for agriculture. As brought out clearly by the Center for Science and Environment, the quality of ground water was deteriorating due to various forms of pollution and due to the rapid depletion of the water table resulting in water being drawn from strata with heavy metals like arsenic, he said.

Pointing out that there are 20 million dug wells and shallow and deep tube wells in the country, which implied nearly 20 million decision makers about the use of water, he called for launching a massive 'water literacy' movement.

Among the steps needed to ensure sustainable use of water, he listed education and social mobilisation through panchayats and Nagarpalikas as very important in addition to regulation in the form of mandatory water harvesting and acquifer recharge as prepared by the National Commission on Farmers.

UNI