It is hypothesized that designing and implementing crop planting schedule to match with rainfall occurrence and distribution would increase green water use efficiency

 Sundarbans in Gangetic delta region have peculiar ecosystem characterized by costal salinity, high rainfalls during monsoons with shallow to deep water inundation in the farm lands and lack of fresh water accompanied by high soil salinity during the remaining 6-8 months. A conceptual framework which included developing crop calendar to match rainwater availability, specifying crops and their planting schedules to make most effective use of rains as green water was evolved. It provided for On-farm Reservoir (OFR) to store surplus rainwater in the catchment to serve as irrigation facility at the time of scarcity and to create good drainage condition. This converted rainwater into useful blue water which otherwise would have gone to the sea. The highlights of this effort were:

·         Improvement in green water use efficiency by 20-35 % by matching crop planting schedule with probable rainfall occurrence and its distribution.

·         Conversion of mono-cropping to multi-cropping with increased productivity and profitability due to increased water supply from harvested rainwater stored in on-farm reservoirs as blue water.

·         Improved drainage in crop lands promoting better crop growth.