INCREASING THE EFFICIENCY OF WATER USE ON AGRICULTURAL LAND THROUGH DEVELOPING RAINWATER HARVESTING SYSTEMS.

Abstract

In several rural areas, the lack of water resources during the dry season has forced farming communities living in these areas to leave their land unattended, because without sufficient irrigation it is difficult for various plant commodities to grow, and this causes farmers' income during the dry season to be greatly reduced. To overcome this problem, water conservation can be carried out by creating a rainwater harvesting (RWH) system, where rainwater is collected from the roof of the house which is then channeled into storage tanks or reservoirs, where the water is then stored. The collected water can then be used for household purposes and watering plants. In this paper we describe a prototype of the rural house that we have built in a rural area of Sumedang district, West Java. The house and yard have the capacity to collect rainwater and recirculate water through hydroponic and aquaponic systems to save water use in carrying out agricultural activities so that even during the dry season, farmers are expected to continue to cultivate food crops or vegetables.