Water Conservation in Ponds

In our Agriculture for Everybody blog series, we are going to see Water Conservation in Ponds which will help the farmer to extend the water availability.

Usually, during the rainy season, the ponds get filled to the brim.  The water is lost due to seepage and evaporation as well as pond bund destabilisation which makes the mud fall into the pond thereby reducing the storage capacity.

To effectively control the issues pointed out, the following techniques can be applied.

Seepage

• Placing clay at the bottom as well as on the walls of the pond will reduce seepage

Evaporation

• Introducing the following plants in the pond will reduce the evaporation
• White Lotus
• Red Lotus
• Water Lily
• The above plants will cover the entire surface of the pond and this way it will reduce the evaporation to the maximum extent.

Bund Stabilization

• Vettiver can be planted on the bunds of the ponds which will ensure the soil does not erode/fall into the pond