Farm ponds
Farm ponds are a small reservoir constructed for
storing the rainwater incepted in the catchment area. The farm ponds supply water for both on-farm use like irrigation, fishery, and off-farm use like
drinking water, recharging groundwater. Due to the availability of protective
irrigation facility from farm pond productivity of crops can be increased,
viz., pigeon pea (35%) and green gram (20%), wheat (30%), sorghum (27%), and
gram (20%) and vegetables (13%). Gross cropped area and cropping intensity can
be increased by 8-10% after the construction of farm ponds in an area. In a broad
sense, the farm ponds are divided into the following two general categories:
embankment type and excavated or dugout type. Embankment type farm ponds are
generally constructed across the stream or water course. Dugout type farm ponds
are constructed by excavating the soil from the ground, relatively in flat
areas. The lining of the farm pond is done with reinforced plastering or silpauline
to prevent percolation loss in the area of high soil permeability.