Bangalore :State Minister for Water Resources M.B.Patil has said that a special scheme aimed at encouraging sugarcane growers and farmers to opt for sprinkler irrigation system will be formulated.

Participating in a debate in the Legislative Assembly on the demands pertaining to the Department, the minister said the move is being made in the wake of possibility of implementation of a rule  in the years to come  wherein water in reservoirs will be used merely for drinking purposes.

The ambitious project of sprinkler irrigation is aimed at incorporating the system in 6.60 lakh hectares of area in the state.The project will be implemented  in phases in the next five years. For the first two years no tax will be collected  from farmers included in the scheme, he informed.