Water Resources Management Plan for irrigation needs of tea gardens in drought-prone areas of Assam

Abstract

Recent changes in climatic pattern have resulted in rainfall concentrating within a short period of time with uneven distribution. This has increased the dry periods affecting the tea plantations in various parts of Assam. In Northeast India the first flush is expected in the month of March. But it has been observed that in the last few years the uneven distribution of winter rainfall with prolonged dry periods and increased temperature has resulted in late arrival of the first flush affecting the annual production. Geo-informatics is an effective tool to carry out ground and surface water prospecting which would enable to plan a sustainable source of water supply to have an effective irrigation system. The present study reports a water resources management plan for a tea garden in one of the drought-prone areas of Assam. The study indicated that irrigation from ground-water/surface-water resources may not always be a solution to the problem, rather rainwater harvesting may be quite effective in increasing moisture content of the soil.