The Haryana government today said it envisages bringing an area of 16,306 hectares under the coverage of the centrally sponsored micro-irrigation scheme during the current financial year.

Out of the total proposed area, 5,983 hectares of area would be under horticultural crops and 10,323 hectares under agricultural crops, an official spokesman said here today.

To cover this area under the irrigation scheme, the central government has sanctioned a total outlay of Rs 28.67 crore, of which the state government's share would be Rs 13.67 crore.

The spokesman said that under this scheme, 90 per cent financial assistance would be provided and farmers had to bear only 10 per cent of the cost of the micro-irrigation technology.

Prior to launching this scheme in the year 2006, the total area under micro-irrigation was only 3,736 hectares. It has since increased to 10,896 hectares.

Irrigation with this system is possible even in undulated land and saline and sandy soil. Besides saving water, it also results in savings on labour charges, as there is no need for channel-making for irrigation.

The spokesman said the micro-irrigation scheme was linked with the community tanks which are being constructed under the National Horticulture Mission in the state. This enables farmers to store water in these tanks and irrigate their crops through the micro-irrigation system.

One hundred per cent financial assistance, subject to a maximum of Rs 10 lakh, is being provided to farmers for the construction of community tanks.

As many as 1,725 community tanks have already been constructed under the National Horticulture Mission.