Impact Caused by the Drip Irrigation System among Onion Growing Farmers in Coimbatore District of Tamil Nadu, India

Abstract

Drip irrigation significantly reduces water consumption, optimizes water-energy relationships, and enhances crop growth by minimizing soil evaporation and deep percolation. It enhances the efficiency of water usage and also the crop’s yield, making it a sustainable solution for agriculture, especially in arid areas. Drip irrigation in onion cultivation enhances water use efficiency, reduces fertilizer costs, and minimizes disease risk. This study investigates the impact caused by the drip irrigation system for the onion growing farmers. The research was conducted in Thondamuthur block in Coimbatore district. Total of 119 onion-growing farmers were selected for the research study. Findings reveal most (77.31%) of the onion-growing farmers had a moderate level of impact caused by drip irrigation. Concerning the category-wise impact caused by drip irrigation among onion-growing farmers, the majority (84.90%) of the onion-growing farmers were capable of fulfilling their needs, followed by 45.38 percent of the respondents had increased respect in their village, most (96.60%) of the farmers reported that usage of water has dropped after the adoption of the drip irrigation, cent percent of the onion growing farmers reported that vigorous growth of weeds was suppressed after adopting drip irrigation, all the respondents reported that usage of labor was reduced in applying fertilizers, majority (93.30%) of the onion growing farmers felt that the produce obtained was of high quality and with reference to the general factors, majority (98.30%) of the respondents felt that the crop matured early. This paper would throw light on the impact caused by the drip irrigation system among the respondents, which could be utilized for further strengthening the drip irrigation system in onion cultivation.