Centre of Excellence on Water Management

As water is precious natural resource its overexploitation, misuse and breaking the path of water cycle lead to its reduction and shortage for domestic, industrial and agricultural purpose. The increasing population, industrialization and urbanization raised the demand of water for feed and sustain the life of living things. Erratic behaviour of rainfall due to climate change increased frequency of drought as well as heavy rainfall and both these phenomena impact the agricultural production. Development of irrigation practice ensures the sustained productivity but injudicious application of water lead to low water productivity.  Growing trend of high water demanding crops has also posed the risk about depletion of water resources at local level. The quality of water for crops is also being deteriorated which affect the health o crop, animal and fishes.

To mitigate the emerging challenges like depleting water table, erratic rainfall, inefficient irrigation system, poor drainage network and sustaining the productivity of rainfed and water logged areas the Centre of Excellence on Water Management under the umbrella of Dr. Rajendra Prasad Central Agricultural University was established in the university campus at Pusa (Samastipur) on 17th February, 2020 and inaugurated by Hon’ble Union Minister of State for Agriculture and Farmer’s Welfare Shri Kailash Choudhary Ji.

Vision

Providing leadership for research, development, capacity building and transfer of technology for conservation and management of water resources under the changing scenario of climate in eastern region of India.

Mission

To address irrigation and water management issues with harnessing the traditional and new frontier areas of science and technology.

  1. Popularization of Efficient Pressurized Irrigation Systems and development of fertigation protocols for different crops.
  2. Development of Ground Water Recharge Techniques and adoption of efficient water management practices.
  3. Elucidating soil plant atmospheric continuum relationship under different irrigation management practices and use of waste water for irrigation.
  4. Development of technologies for increasing safe use of municipal and industrial waste water.
  5. Investigation of Water-Food Nexus in human health through agricultural and aquaculture crops.
  6. Enhancing water productivity of rainfed ecosystem through proper land use planning, advanced agronomical practices, engineering approaches and multiple uses of water.
  7. Optimization of different agro-management practices at field as well as regional scale using integrated approach of Drone and Satellite based observations and development of Decision Support System (DSS) for early warning of various biotic and abiotic stresses.
  8. Development of Efficient Water Management options for the underutilized Chaur, Tal and Diara
  9. Automation of efficient surface irrigation systems for small farms.
  10. Development and Creation of Net Water Positive Zones (NWPZ) and popularization of small scale location specific solar irrigation systems.

Mitigating the emerging challenges like lowering of water table, erratic rainfall, sustaining the productivity of rainfed areas and enhancing the productivity of water logged area, some goals have been set for the centre, keeping the biophysical and socio-economic problems of the region in view. The approaches to be used to attain these goals and their performance measures have been enlisted below:

Goal Approaches
1. Enhancing water productivity and sustainability of irrigated, rain fed, waterlogged  and underutilized agro-ecosystem
  • Evaluation of different crop diversification and intensification for higher water productivity.
  • Evaluation of water use efficient different land configuration and cropping systems.
  • Development and  understanding the interaction between irrigation with other agronomic practices (nutrients, weeds, tillage).
  • Development of efficient water management options and remunerative agronomic practices for the underutilized Chaur, Tal and Diara lands.
2. Design, development and dissemination of rainwater harvesting and groundwater recharge technologies
  • Development of rainwater harvesting structure.
  • Development of efficient and affordable ground water recharge systems.
3. Development/ evaluation/ application of automated and precision water delivery /irrigation system
  • Development of protocol for pressurized irrigation systems and fertigation for different crops.
  • Development and evaluation of precision water delivery system, water sensor, real time monitoring system, application of GIS and remote sensing.
4. Understanding the soil plant atmospheric relationship with different water regimes
  • To study the behaviour of crops in water stress, water logged and poor water quality conditions.
  • Crop modeling under various climatic, edaphic, topographic and management scenarios.
5. Exploring non conventional source/ green source of energy
  • Development and popularization of affordable location specific solar irrigation systems.
6. Strategies for sustainable development,  management and conservation of wetlands
  • Wetland delineation, hydrological assessment including spatial and temporal stagnation of water and its spread.
  • Mapping of flood inundated areas, damage assessment and its mitigation planning using appropriate measures.
7. Capacity building
  • Organize tailor made training programs, OFD, field day for dissemination of technologies to the extension workers and farmers.
  • Develop linkage with national and international organization for exchange of knowledge and experience.

The following objectives have been set for the centre which addresses various goals defined for the centre:

  1. To conduct, coordinate and promote water management research through multi-disciplinary approach.
  2. To collect, collate and disseminate information relating to availability of water resources for irrigation, advanced technology of water management and effective utilization of irrigation water.
  3. To develop/ identify proper irrigation methodologies and systems for small farmers and power deficit areas.
  4. To develop methodologies for management of rain water for judicious use and to develop and evaluate groundwater recharge technologies for augmenting groundwater availability under different hydro-geological conditions.
  5. To develop Decision Support Systems (DSS) and Expert Systems for real time monitoring of agro-ecosystem, early warning of various biotic and abiotic stresses and assessment of LULC changes on regional scale using Artificial Intelligence, GIS & RS and other modern techniques.
  6. To develop technology for safe use of waste water in agriculture.
  7. To act as a nodal centre for imparting capacity building programmes for various stakeholders – scientists, senior level officers, extension functionaries and farmers.

To achieve the objective of the centre addressing the thrust area, year wise action plan is presented below. Organizing various events such as seminars/ symposium/ workshop (at International, National and State level), short courses, field days and farmers’ meetings will be a regular feature. Documentation of the research findings in appropriate formats and publishing the technical bulletins/ handouts etc. for the dissemination of technology generated among different stakeholders will be carried out on priority.

Year Activity to be initiated
I- (2020-21)
  • Establishment of Laboratories (GIS & Remote Sensing, Soil Plant Atmosphere Continuum, Water Quality Testing and Pressurized Irrigation System).
  • Development and evaluation of waste water filter.
  • Creation of Net Water Positive Zone at Pusa campus of RPCAU by means of ground water recharge through recharge filter
  • Studies on application of microirrigation to selected crops.
  • Studies on evaluation of water efficient different land configuration and cropping systems.
II- (2021-22)
  • Identification of Recharge potential zones of Bihar state using Remote sensing and GIS.
  • Selection and preliminary survey of one village for study related to creation of Net Water Positive Zone.
  • Experiments on use of waste water in Agriculture.
  • Development of fertigation protocols for different vegetable and fruit crops in context of eastern India.
  • Development of Land Use Land Cover (LULC) maps with to study the change pattern in cropping system/ agricultural activities for the command area at different temporal and spatial scale.
  • Evaluation and optimization of different agro-management practices at field as well as regional scale using integrated approach of Drone and Satellite based observations.
III- (2022-23)
  • Different Index based real time monitoring of Agro-ecosystem at various spatial scale which will be useful in acreage estimation, identification of cropping pattern, development of early warning system for any biotic or abiotic stresses at regional scale level.
  • Development of a prototype for Decision Support System (DSS) for early warning of various biotic and abiotic stresses.
  • Intensive study on groundwater balance of the selected target area for evolving sustainable ground water management model.
  • Development of low cost electronic devices for irrigation management.
  • Development of low cost filter for drip irrigation system.
IV- (2023-24)
  • Demonstration of developed technology at farmers’ field.
  • Development of portable and handy solar powered drip irrigation system for small vegetable farmers.
  • Capacity building of farmers and extension functionaries.
V- (2024-25)
  • Identification of waterlogged area/chaur of Bihar state using Remote sensing and GIS.
  • Development of solar based drip irrigation system for small vegetable farmer
VI- (2025-26)
  • Development of fertigation protocols for different fruit crops in context of eastern India.
VII- (2026-27)
  • Development of low cost wastewater filter for irrigation
  • Development of Management plan for chaur and diara lands using remote sensing and GIS
VIII-(2027-28)
  • Refinement of existing surface irrigation systems prevailing in small farms.
  • Design and development of raised bed and sunken beds for medium and lowland to achieve crop diversification and higher productivity
  • Design and development of a model for Conjunctive use of borewell and pond.
  • Development of fertigation protocols for Rabi maize crops in context of eastern India.
IX-(2028-29)
  • Evaluation of different Resource Conservation Technology popular in other parts of the country, particularly for water saving.
X-(2029-30)
  • Development of low cost automated electronic device for irrigation

The centre has been provided with adequate scientific manpower and technical staff is being deployed day-by-day. But, to address the thrust areas and meet the objectives of the centre it is pertinent to have required infrastructural facilities for the analysis of the primary experimental data. Initially four laboratories namely – GIS & Remote Sensing Lab., Soil Plant Atmosphere Continuum (SPAC) Lab., Water Quality Testing Lab. and Pressurized Irrigation System Lab. are required to be established in the centre so that the scientists of the centre can formulate experimental plan and start working independently. The requirement of the each laboratory is summarized below.

  1. GIS & Remote Sensing Lab.

This laboratory will fulfill the objective of evaluation and optimization of different agro-management practices at field scale using simulation models, development of Decision Support System (DSS) for real time monitoring of agro-ecosystem and assessment of LULC changes and establishment of a regional center for EDUSAT courses of ISRO – IIRS, Dehradun for faculty and students of RPCAU.

  1. Soil Plant Atmosphere Continuum (SPAC) Lab.

Establishment of soil plant atmosphere continuum (SPAC) laboratory at Centre of Excellence on Water Management is essential to facilitate the research activities on water management aspects. Different parameters (chemical and physiological) of soil and plant samples will be analyzed in this laboratory. This laboratory is highly essential to analyze different soil and plant morpho-physiological changes occurred due to water stresses or different agro-technique employed at field level as well. Besides, lab can also be very beneficial for conducting hands on training for the students of water management courses of master and doctoral level from different departments.

  1. Water Quality Testing Lab.

The studies related to use of poor quality water in agriculture requires analysis of the various quality parameters of irrigation water, analysis of the uptake of various toxic element by the plant and analysis of the chemical and physical parameters of soil which are likely to be affected due to use of poor quality water. This laboratory will be used for analysis of water, plant and soil samples.

  1. Pressurized Irrigation System Lab.

This laboratory will be used for display of various irrigation equipments and the components of the pressurized irrigation systems, demonstration of the functions and merits of the systems giving hands on training to the various stake holders in operation and maintenance of these irrigation systems. The laboratory will also be used for conducting studies on the hydraulics of various components of the pressurized irrigations systems.

S. No. Name of the Scientist Designation Email
1. Dr. S. K. Jain Chief Scientist (SWE) & Project Director skjain@rpcau.ac.in
2. Dr. S. P. Gupta Chief Scientist (SWE) spg.spgupta@gmail.com
3. Dr. Mukesh Kumar Sr. Scientist (Agronomy) mukesh.agron@rpcau.ac.in
4. Dr. A. K. Singh Scientist (Soil Chem.) aks.gwu@gmail.com
5. Dr. Ravish Chandra Scientist (SWE) ravish@rpcau.ac.in
6. Dr. Rajan Kumar Scientist (Agronomy) rajansneh@gmail.com
7. Er. Sudarshan Prasad Scientist (SWE) sudarshan@rpcau.ac.in
8. Mr. Vikash Kumar Rai Scientist (Soil Science) vikas.soils@rpcau.ac.in
9. Ms. Jyotsna Rani Pradhan Scientist (Plant Physiology) jyotsna@rpcau.ac.in