Laser land leveling technology in Punjab agriculture- Challenges and opportunities

The present paper aimed to evaluate the impact of laser land leveling technology on water-use efficiency of wheat and paddy crops.The study was conducted in Punjab during the year 2011?12. The results revealed that the adoption of laser land leveling technology resulted into water saving of 28 and 12 per cent in paddy and wheat crop, respectively, whereas, the yield of paddy and wheat crop was enhanced by 4.24 and 8.08 per cent, respectively with the use of technology. The water productivity of paddy crop was 1.14 kgm−3 for technology adopters whereas, it was 0.78 kgm−3 for non-adopters; indicating an increase of 31 per cent. The important constraints in the adoption of this technology include non-availability of laser land leveler, high cost of leveling, small size of holding and lack of awareness among the farmers.