IJSRST15114 | Received: 17 March 2015 | Accepted: 2 April 2015 | March-April 2015 [(1)1: 4-10] © 2015 IJSRST | Volume 1 | Issue 2 | Print ISSN: 2395-6011 | Online ISSN: 2395-602X Themed Section: Engineering and Technology 4 Study on Issues and Remedies of Waterlogging in Hirakud Command - Key to Enhance Crop and Water Productivity Balram Panigrahi, J.C. Paul, B.P. Behera Department of Soil & Water Conservation Engineering, College of Agril. Engg. & Tech., Orissa University of Agriculture & Technology, Bhubaneswar, Odisha, India ABSTRACT The present study deals with finding out the causes of rising groundwater table that creates waterlogging in the Hirakud command of Odisha. The study reveals that during the 55 years of construction of the project, the groundwater table in the command has risen by more than 5 m. In the head reach, the rise is more as compared to the lower reach. The main factors that contribute to the waterlogging are (i) faulty water management practice (ii) intensive rice-rice cultivation (iii) plot to plot irrigation in rice field instead of using field channel (iv) continuous canal flow etc. Some remedies to reclaim the waterlogged areas and decrease the groundwater table are also mentioned in this paper. Construction of parallel field surface drain at 10 m drain spacing is recommended in the ayacut to decline the rising groundwater table which may facilitate the farmers to grow even some non-rice crops in the ayacut and increase water productivity. Keywords: waterlogging, alarming rate, evapptranspiration, waterlogging, percolation, Faulty water management practice, Intensive rice-rice cultivation, irrigation system, crop diversification, Drainage congestion, toposystem I. INTRODUCTION The populations of the world which was 250 crores in half a century ago has already crossed the 700 crores mark and is likely to cross the 900 crores mark in the next 25 years. In India, we have touched 126 crores population and is expected to touch 164 crores by 2050 A.D. To feed such a great population, about 450 million tons of food grain production is barely needed which requires about 100 percent increase in the total food grain production. This will be possible if we enhance the natural resources including both soil and water optimally in a very judicious manner. Irrigation development in India during the post-independence era has greatly facilitated enhancement of agricultural production by increasing the irrigation potential. However, in the wake of such phenomenal strides of irrigation development from 23 M ha (million hectare) in the early 1950’s to nearly 109 M ha at present, twin problems of waterlogging and salinity have also come up in the irrigation commands due to hydrologic disturbances beyond the capacity of natural drainage systems. The abundant loss of water in the form of seepage in the conveyance systems is because of earthen canals/channel sections, badly damaged canal outlets etc. coupled with low water application efficiency in the crop field due to improper water management practice. This has resulted in waterlogging and salinization thus rendering vast areas to be unproductive. They not only threaten the capital investment but also the sustainability of irrigated agriculture and have become an environmental concern too. The waterlogged saline soils are found to occur all over the country; about 8.5 M ha area has been salt-affected, of this, 5.6 M ha is waterlogged saline area in the commands of irrigation projects and is commonly referred to as man-made or wet deserts (Balakrishnan et al., 2001). Based on the extrapolation of the data on individual schemes, it is estimated that irrigation induces salinization and waterlogging on an average of 10% of the net irrigated areas (Jain, 2002). Recently in India, waterlogging in canal irrigated areas is increasing at an alarming rate. In Tungabhadra Project in Karnataka, more than 33000 ha has been reported to suffer from waterlogging and salinity and these areas are increasing at the rate of 600 ha/year. Large areas in Haryana have been rendered waterlogged after introduction of Bhakra canal irrigation. Rising water table in Gujarat has also been observed due to the flow of water in Mahi command.