: Water Is Undoubtedly Elixir Of Life. Whether It Be For Irrigation, Drinking & Sanitation Or
For The Protection Of Natural Ecosystems & Providing Goods And Services For Growing Populations, Without
Water Life On Earth Is Just Impossible And Hence It Is “Lifeline”. India Is The Second Largest Silk Producing
Country Next To China In The World And Tamil Nadu Occupies The Fourth Position In Raw Silk Production In
The Country. Cultivation Of Mulberry Plant Is Mainly For Its Leaves The Sole Food For The Silkworm, Bombyx
Mori L. For Commercial Production Of Raw Silk. Mulberry Is Cultivated In About 1.86 Lakh Ha. Area In India.
Of The Total Mulberry Area Above 80% Is Under Irrigation Conditions. Where As In Tamil Nadu State Out Of
10,809 Ha. Mulberry Plantation About 95% Of Garden Is Under Irrigated Conditions Reflect The Importance
Of Irrigation For Mulberry Crop. As Irrigation Method Adopted In Mulberry By Farmers Is Of Traditional
Open Type Applied Without Assessment Of Actual Requirement Of Water For The Crop Which Results In Poor
WUE And Huge Water Loss Due To Conveyance, Seepage And Evaporation Etc.,.
To Find An Efficient Irrigation Water Management System In Mulberry Cultivation, A Field Level Experiment
Drawn On Split Split Plot Design In Established Mulberry Garden Under 3’x3’ Plant Spacing With Ruling MR2
Variety And High Yielding V1 Popular Variety Being Popularized In Tamil Nadu With Three Types [Furrow
(Traditional) Sprinkler & Drip (Modern)] And Three Levels Of Irrigation Water Equal To 100; 70 And 50%
Cumulative Epan Scheduled @ 50% SMD In Furrow Method And Same Levels In Both Sprinkler & Drip
Scheduled On Alternate Day Was Conducted In Namackal District Of Tamil Nadu During 2004 -’06 For Eight
Crops. The Results Of The Experiments Conducted Revealed That Micro-Irrigation Systems I.E., Drip
Performed Well At Any Level Of Irrigation Followed By Sprinkler And The Least In Furrow Method. Further
Maximum Irrigation Water Savings Of 61.2 And 32.7% Observed Under Micro Irrigation (Drip) As Against
Farmers Practice And Actual Irrigation Water Requirement For Mulberry Based On FAO’s Modified Penman
And Monteith Equation Respectively With Improvement In Water Use Efficiency [WUE] As High As 300%
Without Affecting The Sustainable Productivity Of Leaf. The Quality Of Leaf Verified By Bio-Assay And In
Terms Of Quality Of Raw Silk And Productivity Revealed The Cost Benefit Ratio Of 1:2.12 And 1:1.99 In V1
And MR2 Mulberry Garden Respectively As Against 1:1.57 Recorded Under Traditional Furrow Irrigation
Method. The Status Of Sericulture, Importance Of Irrigation Water Management With Calendaring For
Mulberry Crop For Sustainable Development Cope Up With SWOT Analysis Of The Industry In Tamil Nadu
Are Discussed In The Paper.
KEY WORDS : Mulberry Crop; Irrigation Water Management; Water Use Efficiency;