The government today upgraded its micro irrigation scheme to a national mission with an outlay of Rs 8,032.90 crore, to save scarce irrigation water.

The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA) approved the implementation of the Micro Irrigation Scheme (MIS) as a National Mission on Micro Irrigation (NMMI) during the 11th Plan period (2007-12), home minister P Chidambaram told reporters after the CCEA meeting.

The mission will bring 2.85 million hectare of area under micro irrigation, ensuring saving of irrigation water, fertiliser and electricity, he said.

Out of the total outlay, Rs 3,409.26 crore will be contributed by the Department of Agriculture and Cooperation (DAC) as central share comprising 40 per cent subsidy for general farmers and 50 per cent subsidy for small and marginal farmers, he said.

It will help increase in crop productivity as the major government schemes get convergence to create water harvesting structures.

Apart from this, the irrigation mission would be useful for vegetables, spices, and oilseeds.

The MIS was under implementation since 2005-06.

This technology greatly enhances water use efficiency and can also be used for fertiliser application.

Since the inception of the scheme, an area of 17.92 lakh hectare has been brought under micro irrigation in 18 states by utilising Rs 2,013.39 crore as the central share.

Around 60 per cent of Indian agriculture is rainfed as the country has scarce irrigation infrastructure.