Netafim, an Orbia business and a global leader in precision agriculture solutions, under Better Life Farming, helping Shivpuri farmers grow more tomatoes with less spending on Agri inputs. Under the initiative, farmers are encouraged to adopt drip irrigation technology.
The drip irrigation systems are provided through four Better Life Farming (BLF) Centres present in the Khajuri, Kolaras, and Pohari regions of the Shivpuri district. Netafim has implemented a drip irrigation system to cover 1,600 hectares of land in Shivpuri District.
The farmers across the Shivpuri district have witnessed higher crop yields and higher total income. The drip irrigation technology has helped farmers grow ~30 tonnes tomatoes in one acre and get a total income between INR 1.5 lac to 2.5 Lac compared to the previous 20 tonnes and income of 1 Lakh to 1.2 Lakh in one acre.
Shivpuri District boasts a net cultivable area of 4 lacs hectares out of the total available land of 10 lacs hectares. It is one of the leading tomato crop producers in Madhya Pradesh. Traditionally, the district farmers produce 2.5 lacs metric tons of tomatoes in a total area of 8,145 hectares.
Despite being famous for tomatoes, small farmers in Shivpuri often face challenges to cultivate and harvest tomato crops when the prices are optimum. One of the biggest reasons behind this is flood irrigation in tomato farming. This practice leads to an increase in Agri-input consumption, fertilizer wastage, getting tomato harvest of uniform size, and the growth of weeds.
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