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Use of groundwater for agriculture - Symposium

by S. M. Jiffrey Abdeen - Kandy South group correspondent

The Agricultural Engineering Society of Sri Lanka (AESSL) in association with the Post Graduate Institute of Agriculture of the University of Peradeniya will organise a symposium on the 'Use of groundwater for agricultural purposes in Sri Lanka' on Monday September 30th at the PGIA, Peradeniya.

Dr. Nimal Dharmasena, Senior Lecturer in Agricultural Engineering told the Daily News that the first such an event was organised by the Agricultural Engineering Society of Sri Lanka in 1990 and the theme was 'Irrigation and Water Resources in Sri Lanka'. This was a grand success as it resulted in bringing the water professionals together and the publishing of 15 valuable articles on the subject and they became one of the most referred publications in this field.

The proposed 2002 workshop aims at providing a friendly atmosphere for healthy exchange of ideas among the water professionals in the field of ground water utilization in Sri Lanka and publishing of document that could be used as a guide by the practitioners in the field of groundwater. Key scientists from the International Water Management Institute (IWMI), Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO), Department of Agriculture, academics and Agrarian Research and Training Institute (ARTI) will speak on different aspects of utilization of groundwater.

According to the organisers of this symposium where the water availability in dry zone is concerned, the use of groundwater is becoming one of the major issues. In the recent past, Sri Lankan professionals have conducted valuable research studies in this area.

The dry and intermediate zones are of very high importance for the agricultural production in the country. The rural farming communities carry out their agricultural activities but their resources are limited. The dry zone and intermediate zones faces tremendous water shortage problems during 6 to 7 months of the dry season. The major irrigation schemes could irrigate only about 50 per cent of the total cultivated land. The use of surface water for irrigation is fast becoming a limiting resource, the use of groundwater as a supplementary source, including the conjunctive use has been recognised at present.

In the late eighties, the government of Sri Lanka implemented a nation wide agro well (Large diameter well) programme to construct agro wells in the dry zone. Study results have indicated that the number of wells had already exceeded the upper limit (tolerable limit) in certain areas. In its wake, it has brought about problems such as drying of wells in mid season, low recovery rates. Interference between wells, and salinity problems has been observed in these areas.

Studies have also indicated that out of the total number of such wells, thirty per cent of the wells are being abandoned due to one of the several reasons mentioned earlier. This is a serious problem which could have its impact on agricultural production, and will have to be tackled in a professional way to avoid further damage. Professionals in this field have conducted detailed studies in North Western and North Cental Provinces on aquifer properties, average annual recharge, recovery properties of the wells, pumping schedule, sustainable abstraction patterns, crops suitable for cultivation, high efficiency irrigation methods and optimum well dimension.

In addition, this symposium will address the experience on deep ground water extraction, which was introduced to the country in 1996. Environmental, socio-economic and technical aspects of groundwater extraction will be also discussed in detail at this symposium which will be of much benefit to those in the field and others directly involved in the use of ground water for agricultural purposes. The information which is discussed at this symposium will be published and made available for the efficient use of groundwater in future and the country and the people will immensely benefit from it.

Dr. S. Pathmarajah of the Department of Agricultural Engineering will be the Symposium Co-ordinator and for more information, he could be contacted on telephone No. 08-388923, [email protected] at the Department of Agricultural Engineering, Faculty of Agriculture, University of Peradeniya, Peradeniya.

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