Jammu, Aug 29 (PTI) Udhampur district in Jammu and Kashmir has bagged a national award at the National Water Innovation Summit 2020 for implementation of Jeevika initiative - a targeted livelihood plan for small and marginal farmers, an official spokesman said on Saturday.

The Jeevika initiative conceptualised by Deputy Commissioner Piyush Singla envisages a multi-pronged strategy for enhancing efficient water usage and aiming at generating sustainable livelihood for farmers in the district, the spokesman said.

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It also envisages to increase and provide assured irrigation for agricultural land apart from conservation of water to enhance the livelihood of small and marginal farmers through development of sustainable ecosystems in the district.

Receiving the award from the Union Ministry of Jal Shakti, Singla said Udhampur district is predominantly agrarian where 80 per cent of the population is in the rural field with agriculture as their main source of livelihood.

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He said the project is essentially from the perspective of a farmer and revolves around increasing farmers' income by using water conservation.

“The project Jeevika offers holistic integration of factors of production. The project aims to harness the untapped perennial water sources to increase the assured irrigation potential through innovative water harvesting structures (plastic pond); to promote efficient water use for irrigation by means of micro irrigation -drip method and mulching, healthy soil by promoting vermicompost, enhancing seasonal vegetable production - polyhouses,” he said.

While explaining the significance of the project, the deputy commissioner said it was formulated after a joint survey was conducted by the Agriculture and Rural Development department to study the feasibility, requirements, and willingness of the farmer to participate and to realise the vision of Prime Minister Narendra Modi of doubling farmers' income by 2022.

“The project aims to develop at least 250 clusters across Udhampur district, each of which will have 7-8 farmers, big water harvesting pond, one perennial source being tapped, different fields with multiple drip irrigation systems, polyhouses and vermicompost units,” he said adding that so far 40 such clusters have been completed.

Under the project, the perennial water bodies' discharge is stored in a pond. These ponds are unique water harvesting structures and the water is supplied to the farmers' fields through a drip irrigation system.

(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)