WRD’s Institute takes training to the field, adopts Ariyalur village

To make its training programmes more relevant to field-level needs, the Water Resources Department’s Irrigation Management Training Institute (IMTI) has adopted a village to promote agricultural practices suited to local water availability.

For the first time, the Tiruchi-based institute, which was founded in 1984, has moved beyond classroom training to take its expertise to the field and identified Vettriyur in Ariyalur district to help farmers adopt crop production with low water use. The institute plans to expand the village adoption programme in the next few years.

A team of officials recently held a meeting with the farmers to assess the existing farming system and plan suitable capacity building interventions. Officials noted that Vettriyur was a relatively water-starved village with a cultivable area of nearly 914 hectare. The village has multiple cropping patterns with considerable irrigation potential.

IMTI’s Director General C. Pothupani Thilagam said “We plan to assist farmers with latest, water-efficient irrigation technologies to step up agricultural productivity and income for one year. A water balance audit would be conducted to identify priority intervention areas.”

Farming community would also be trained in livestock management and value addition of milk and mushroom cultivation to increase their income. They would be introduced to government schemes and marketing strategies, he said.

The institute has also signed memorandum of understanding with National Water Academy for technical collaboration on innovative irrigation management techniques. Collaboration with Anna University is also in the pipeline.

For the first time, the institute is also hosting students from across Tamil Nadu to provide them with hands-on exposure to irrigation management. It has collaborated with nearly 28 colleges in various districts, including Namakkal, Tiruchi, Salem and Ramanathapuram, to train engineering and agricultural students on practical aspects of water management and modern techniques.

Through these initiatives, the institute is seeking to bridge the gap between technical knowledge and its application in agriculture by providing farmers and students with field-level exposure, officials said.