Water Management Unit (C-NARE), Rajendranagar
Name of the Research Station : Water Management Unit (C-NARE)
Address (Village/Town, Mandal, District) : Rajendranagar, Hyderabad
Google Location Coordinates : 170 19‘23.592 “ N, 780 24‘58.5648“ E
Agro-Climatic Zone : Southern Telangana Zone
Year of Establishment : 2009 (Formerly Water Technology Centre)
Total Area (in acres) : 10 acres
Mandated Crops : Micro irrigation techniques in Field crops and Vegetable crops
Links :
AICRP on Integrated Farming System Unit
Water management, micro-irrigation, precision farming technologies, sensors Remote sensing and Solar panels
Current Projects
Projects funded by NRSC, Renkube Pvt. Ltd., through Start up AG Hub, Dept. of Telangana, GoI and RKVY are operated since 2021.
Infrastructure Facilities Available
Drip irrigation/sensors, shade net, poly house, water & soil quality analysis lab, RS & GIS Lab
- Major International & National Projects (2007–2014): Led Indo–US AKI & NICHE initiatives, NICRA scaling-up of water productivity, APWSIP adaptive research in NSP command, and RKVY projects on subsurface drip in sugarcane; micro-irrigation & fertigation for field crops; poor-quality drain-water reuse; and Musi wastewater impact studies.
- Aerobic Rice Innovation: Demonstrated aerobic rice systems saving 36 % irrigation water and boosting water productivity by 29.4 % versus conventional transplanted rice, with linear nitrogen response up to 150 kg N ha⁻¹.
- Drip & Fertigation Protocols: Established crop-specific drip schedules (100 % Epan + 100 % RDF for maize/cotton; 1.2 Epan onion; 0.8 Epan pigeonpea; 1.0 Epan potato/tomato; 0.6 Epan castor) and 80–100 % RDF fertigation, achieving significant yield and fertilizer-use efficiency gains across maize, Bt-cotton, tomato, castor, onion, redgram, potato, etc.
- Sprinkler Irrigation Advances: Applied 35 mm at flowering/seed-set in maize, groundnut, tomato, redgram and intercropping systems, raising yields by 28–40 % over rainfed controls.
- APWSIP Nodal Demonstrations (since 2011): As the nodal centre, showcased water-saving practices for maize, cotton, chillies and groundnut across five districts in the Nagarjuna Sagar command.
- Quantified Drip Benefits in Field Crops: Recorded 220–417 mm seasonal water use in drip-irrigated maize and 184–357 mm in sunflower, both with significant yield increases at 1.0 Epan scheduling.
- Alternate Wetting & Drying (AWD) in Rice: Introduced AWD (5 cm submergence management) in lowland rice, halving water use while achieving 5.91 t ha⁻¹ yields.
Aerobic Rice Sprinkler Scheduling: Validated sprinkler-based aerobic rice (1.5 Epan to PI, then 2.0 Epan) matching conventional flood irrigation yields.
| Sl. No | Full Name & Designation | Department / Discipline | Areas of Specialization | Mail Id | Photo |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Dr. K. P. Vani Director, C-NARE |
Agronomy | Nutrient Management, Conservation Agriculture, Water Management and Natural Resource Management | kandivani@yahoo.co.in |  |
| 2 | Dr. K. Suresh Principal Scientist |
Agronomy | Irrigation Management, Nutrient Management and Integrated Farming Systems | suresh@pjtau.edu.in |  |
| 3 | Manoj Kumar Gaddam Principal Scientist |
Soil and Water Conservation Engineering | Soil and Water Conservation Engineering | mkgaddam53@gmail.com |  |
| 4 | Dr. M. Vijayalaxmi Senior Scientist |
Horticulture | Floriculture and Ornamental Gardening | vijayahorti9@gmail.com |  |
| 5 |
Dr. Kasthuri Rajamani |
Soil Science and Agricultural Chemistry |
Soil Fertility and Nutrient Management |
kasthuri.agrico114@gmail.com;
|
 |
Station In-Charge (Name & Designation):Dr. K. P. Vani
Director, Water Management Unit (C-NARE). Rajendranagar
Email : wtc@pjtau.edu.in
Mobile Number : 8332970387