The traditional bamboo drip irrigation system, about 200 years old, is still used in which state?

Bamboo drip irrigation is an ingenious traditional system of carrying water through bamboo pipes, used by tribal farmers of the Khasi and Jaintia hills of Meghalaya for about 200 years.

How the system works:

Water from hill streams and springs is tapped at a higher point and carried down the slopes through a network of bamboo pipes, using only gravity.

Bamboo pipes of different diameters are used. Large pipes carry the water from the source, and smaller channels branch off to distribute it.

By the time the water reaches the plants, the flow is reduced from about 18 to 20 litres per minute at the source to just 20 to 80 drops per minute at the base of each plant.

The pipes are supported by bamboo or wooden stands, and the system is adjusted by changing the angle and position of the pipes.

The whole system can carry water over hundreds of metres.

Crops irrigated:

It is used mainly for betel leaf (paan) and black pepper plantations, and also for areca nut and other crops on steep hill slopes.

Why it is suitable for Meghalaya:

• The terrain is steep and rocky, which makes ordinary canal irrigation difficult.
• Bamboo grows abundantly in the region and is cheap, light and easy to work.
• The system needs no electricity or pumps and uses local skills.
• It reduces water waste, prevents soil erosion on slopes and keeps the plants evenly watered.

Traditional water harvesting systems of India (examples):

• Kuhl: diversion channels in Himachal Pradesh.
• Guls and kuls: channels in Jammu and Kashmir and Himachal Pradesh.
• Kund or kundi and tanka: underground tanks for rainwater in Rajasthan.
• Johad: earthen check dams in Rajasthan and Haryana.
• Eri: tanks of Tamil Nadu.
• Apatani system: wet rice cultivation with water channels in Arunachal Pradesh (Ziro valley).

Why not the other options?

• ✗Sikkim is known for terrace farming and organic agriculture.
• ✗Mizoram is known for jhum (shifting) cultivation and bamboo forests.
• ✗Arunachal Pradesh is known for the Apatani wet rice system.