Bio-Drainage Technology

Bio-drainage removes excess soil-water through transpiration by trees. It is an option to prevent the development of waterlogged and saline soils especially in areas having no possibility of disposing saline drainage effluent. There are large areas with water stagnation due to seepage from higher elevation, surface disposal of urban and industrial effluents and floods during rains where conventional system of dewatering through pumping and surface drainage is not possible. Bio-drainage lowers the water table and minimizes salt accumulation in the root zone. It is an eco-friendly low cost technology, which can easily be adopted by the farmers because it does not require skilled labor. It generates revenue for farmers from the sale of wood besides promoting the area under forests. The technology does not have the problem of disposal of drainage effluent. It can be adopted along with the conventional subsurface drainage to reduce the drainage effluents.