PMKSY, beneficiaries, Non-beneficiaries, Agriculture and Micro irrigation.

The development of the government's many agricultural development programs is correlated with our country's progress. Active engagement is required for the implementation of development schemes to be successful. With the aim of increasing water use efficiency in the agricultural sector by promoting appropriate technological interventions like drip and sprinkler irrigation technologies and encouraging farmers to use water-saving and conservation techniques, the Government of India has been implementing the Centrally Sponsored Scheme on Micro Irrigation. 

The primary goals of PMKSY are to coordinate irrigation investments at the field level, increase cultivable land under guaranteed irrigation, increase adoption of precision irrigation and other water-saving technologies (more crop per drop), improve aquifer recharge, and introduce sustainable water conservation practises by investigating the viability of reusing treated municipal waste water.

The PMKSY is the result of the merger of the Department of Land Resources' (DoLR) Integrated Watershed Management Programme (IWMP), the Department of Agriculture and Cooperation's (DAC) On Farm Water Management (OFWM), and the Ministry of Water Resources, River Development & Ganga Rejuvenation's (MoWR, RD&GR) Accelerated Irrigation Benefit Programme (AIBP). The strategy will be implemented by the Ministries of Rural Development, Agriculture, and Water Resources. Construction of water harvesting structures, contour bunding, small check dams and agricultural ponds are among the projects largely carried out by the Ministry of Rural Development. The MoWR, RD, and GR are responsible for the development of water distribution systems, the construction of diversion canals, field channels, lift irrigation, and a guaranteed irrigation source.

For assessing the impact of Pradhan Mantri Krish Sinchayee Yojana there are four components but at present more work completed on two components i.e. Per Drop More Crop and Har Khet Ko Pani. The beneficiaries of these two components will be identified. From each village 10 beneficiaries and 10 non-beneficiaries under this project were purposively selected. Total 160 beneficiaries and for analyzing impact 160 non-beneficiaries from same village were selected thus total 320 beneficiaries were selected for present study.  These two districts were selected purposively as there were more physical area covered under this scheme.

Respondents were selected from two Tehsils of Jalgaon district namely Rawer and Yawal. From Rawer tehsil, Vivare Bk., Vivare Kd., Rasalpur, Kerhale Bk. villages  were selected for the study. From Yawal Tehsil, Bhalod, Nhavi, Kingaon, Kolwad villages were selected. Tehsils and villages were selected purposively based on maximum number of beneficiaries under the scheme. Total 80 beneficiary and 80 non-beneficiary farmers were selected from Jalgaon district.

In Ahmednagar District, also two tehsils were selected based on maximum no. of beneficiaries namely Parner and Shrigonda. From Parner tehsil, four villages Ralegan Siddhi, Javala, Ralegan Therpal, Nighoj are selected. Similarly in Shrigonda tehsil, four villages namely Deodhaithan, Ghotavi, Pargaon Sudrik, Rajapur are selected. Tehsils and villages were selected purposively based on maximum number of beneficiaries under the scheme. Total 80 beneficiary and 80 non-beneficiary farmers were selected from Ahmednagar district for study. Total of 160 beneficiary farmers and 160 non-beneficiary farmers were selected for study. The total sample size was 320.

Study constraints of PMKSY and obtained suggestions to overcome it. These findings are listed below:

Table 1: Distribution of respondents according to their Constraints faced by the beneficiaries of PMKSY.

Table 2: Distribution of respondents according to their Suggestions  given by the beneficiaries of PMKSY.

Constraints faced by respondents. It is evident from Table 1 above that 55.00 percentage of respondents stated that obtaining a bank loan would take longer, and  60.00 per cent mentioned financial constraints regarding the first investment needed. 48.75 per cent  expressed the promotional constraints related to very less involvement of the officials from Agril. Department and bank officials. 63.75 per cent of the respondent expressed the subsidy getting delay due to tedious procedure of scheme and 9.375 per cent of the respondent expressed the human errors from bank's end leading to farmers not getting the subsidy. 56.25 per cent of  the  technical constraint related to server down is major problem when filling of application form, 35.00 per cent of the respondent expressed the constraint related to difficult to keep proper water pressure and 12.50 per cent expressed problem related to illiterate farmer not aware about online procedure.

Some of the similar constraints have been identified by Jayarani et al. (2013); Bori (2014); Khedkar and Dhakad (2014); Laxmi and Sundaramari (2019).

Suggestions given by respondents. As can be seen from Table 2 above, 63.75 percent of respondents recommended that the subsidy be settled three months after the system was installed, and 41.25 percent recommended that at least one or two Maha-E-Service centres be established at the village level. 33.75 percent of respondents said that the lottery method was time-consuming and that other suitable methods should be used to choose farmers who would receive microirrigation systems and settlement subsidies. 23.12 percent of respondents said that farmers should be made aware of the scheme through awareness programmes. A ground level public grievance subsidy settlement method was proposed by 15.62 percent of respondents, while a demonstration of how to clean and maintain a micro irrigation system and its filter system should be provided to a village-level farmer's organisation by 07.50 percent of respondents. ,05.00percent of the respondents proposed that selection lists should be prominently displayed on Gram panchayat notice boards since occasionally network errors, such as range issues, make it impossible for farmers to get messages about selection. The findings listed were discovered to be closely connected to the observations made by Bannapure (2007); Ahire et al. (2015); Garg and Yadav (2010), Harish (2010); Ahire et al. (2015); Adsul (2016); Jadhav (2017).

Overall findings of the study stated that majority of  respondents stated that obtaining a bank loan would take longer,  financial constraints regarding the first investment needed, promotional constraints related to very less involvement of the officials from Agril. Department and bank officials subsidy getting delay due to tedious procedure, technical constraint related to server down is major problem when filling of application form.

Majority respondents suggest that the subsidy be settled three months after the system was installed, at least one or two Maha-E-Service centres be established at the village level, the lottery method was time-consuming and that other suitable methods should be used to choose farmers who would receive microirrigation systems and settlement subsidies.

The present study is focused on only two component of PMKSY scheme i.e. Har Khet Ko Pani and Per Drop More Crop, further studies can be made on remaining two components. Further the study is confined to only two districts, to derive wider generalizations; studies should be conducted in other districts of Maharashtra where Physical area covered under PMKSY Scheme. More number of variables and perceived impact indicators can be included in the further perceived impact studies of PMKSY Scheme.

P.S. Latambale, S.B. Bhange, P.B. Kharde and R. G. Ghadge  (2024). Study the Constraints of Prime Minister Krishi Sinchayee Yojana and Obtained Suggestions to Overcome it. Biological Forum – An International Journal, 16(5): 74-77.