Irrigation
Irrigation
Irrigation
What is Irrigation ?
• Irrigation is the artificial application of water for the cultivation of crops.
• Irrigation is important because if monsoons fail, the farmer can depend upon
alternative sources of water for his crops or else they will not survive.
• Indian farmers have access to irrigation from two sources, surface water and
groundwater.
1. Surface water- largely provided through large and small dams and canal net works,
run-off from river lift irrigation schemes and small tanks and ponds.
1. Major Project-This project consists of huge surface water, storage reservoir and flow
diversion structures. It can cover more than 10,000 hectares of the Command Area.
The command area is defined as the area that can be irrigated by a canal system .
2. Medium Project-These are also surface water projects but with medium sized
storage and diversion structures and can cultivate between 2000 hectares to 10,000
hectares.
3. Minor Project-The area proposed for irrigation under these schemes is less than
2000 hectares and the source of water is groundwater from tubewells, wells or
Other sources of irrigation
• The irrigation sector also includes water shed and Micro Irrigation
• Watershed is defined as any surface area from which runoff resulting from rainfall is collected and
drained through a common point. The main advantages of the watershed approach are reducing
soil erosion and recharging ground water
• Micro Irrigation encompasses drip and sprinkler technologies. Traditionally irrigation is provided
to crops by flooding the entire farm, largely through gravity-based flow. However with drip and
sprinkler, water is available near the root zone.
Use of these technologies improves the efficiency of irrigation. Irrigation efficiency in drip
irrigation is about 90 per cent, compared to about 65 per cent in the case of sprinkler irrigation and
about 35-50 per cent in the case of conventional method of irrigation
Importance of Irrigation
• At the time of independence, agriculture faced stagnation, marked by low crop yields,
low share of irrigated area and large areas of cultivated land lying fallow.
• The early 1950s witnessed significant investment in public irrigation schemes and
increase in area irrigated under these schemes.
• The Green Revolution of the 1960s established the importance of irrigation, among
other inputs, to achieve higher productivity in agriculture.
Importance of irrigation
• Irrigation is one of the most crucial inputs for agriculture.
• It has a complementary role to play in the production process as key inputs like seed and
fertilizer would not achieve their full potential unless combined by irrigation.
• Supply of land is inelastic and no further growth in Net Sown Area may be possible and
hence the future growth of agriculture is heavily dependent upon intensive cultivation of the
NSA.
• Irrigation can help to increase cropping intensity-same land can be used in kharif, rabi and
summer season.
• India’s irrigation sector has been fundamental to India’s economic development and poverty
Irrigated Yield for Unirrigated Yield
State Paddy for Paddy
Kg /hectare Kg/hectare
1723
Bihar 3387 (49% less)
1310
Chhattisgarh 2450 (46.5 %less)
3755
Karnataka 4406 (14.7 % less)
3562
Tamil Nadu 3943 (9.67 % less)
Importance of Irrigation
• From the late 1970s onwards, ground water irrigation began to become more
important. This was because private investment in agriculture gathered momentum,
through wells and tube wells.
• With liberalization of the economy in early 1990s, the area under public surface
irrigation declined and there was a corresponding increase under private ground water
irrigation.
Net Irrigated
Year / Canals Tanks Tube wells Other wells Others
Area
million ha (million ha) (million ha) (million ha) (million ha) (m ha)
(Million ha)
1950-51 8.3 3.6 - 6.0 3.0 20.9
1955-56 9.4 4.4 - 6.7 2.2 22.7
1960-61 10.4 4.6 0.1 7.2 2.4 24.7
1965-66 11.0 4.3 1.3 7.4 2.5 26.5
1970-71 12.8 4.1 4.5 7.4 2.3 31.1
1975-76 13.8 4.0 6.8 7.6 2.4 34.6
1980-81 15.3 3.2 9.5 8.2 2.6 38.8
1985-86 16.2 2.8 11.9 8.5 2.5 41.9
1990-91 17.5 2.9 14.3 10.4 2.9 48.0
1995-96 17.1 3.1 17.9 11.8 3.5 53.4
2000-01 16.0 2.5 22.6 11.3 2.9 55.3
2005-06 16.7 2.1 26.0 10.0 6.0 60.8
2010-11 15.6 2.0 28.5 10.6 6.9 63.6
2015-16 15.18 1.7 32.16 10.95 7.2 67.18
2021-22 19.21 2.2 36.79 11 9.38 77.92
Year Canals Tanks Tube wells Other wells Others Net Irrigated
(% share) % % % % % Area %
1950-51 39.7 17.2 0.0 28.7 14.4 100
1955-56 41.4 19.4 0.0 29.5 9.7 100
1960-61 42.1 18.6 0.4 29.1 9.7 100
1965-66 41.5 16.2 4.9 27.9 9.4 100
1970-71 41.2 13.2 14.5 23.8 7.4 100
1975-76 39.9 11.6 19.7 22.0 6.9 100
1980-81 39.4 8.2 24.5 21.1 6.7 100
1985-86 38.7 6.7 28.4 20.3 6.0 100
1990-91 36.5 6.0 29.8 21.7 6.0 100
1995-96 32.0 5.8 33.5 22.1 6.6 100
2000-01 28.9 4.5 40.9 20.4 5.2 100
2005-06 27.5 3.5 42.8 16.4 9.9 100
2010-11 24.5 3.1 44.8 16.7 10.8 100
2015-16 22.6 2.5 47.9 16.3 10.2 100
2021-22
Gross Irrigated Area as
Gross Cropped Area Gross Irrigated Area
Year a % of Gross Cropped
(million hectares) (million hectares)
Area
100 98.7
89.1
80.2
80
68.7
58.8
60 56.6
48.6 47.1
43.3 42
40
34.2
31.2
28.7
20 18.2 17.9
14.3
9.2
0
pun Har Up Bih WB TN Ind Guj MP Raj Kar CG Odi Mah Ker Khar Asm
Key Issues in Irrigation
• Agriculture in India is still dependent largely on monsoons and only 55 percent of GCA
is irrigated.
• If monsoons fail, there is possibility of crop failure as by and large farmers do not have
protective irrigation.
• Several states have a very small proportion of their GCA under irrigation;
• While ultimate irrigation potential of India is estimated at 139.89 million hectares, and
potential is created every Five Year Plan, there is always a gap between irrigation
potential created and the irrigation potential realized ?
Year Irrigation Potential created Irrigation Potential Utilized % utilized of created
(million ha) IPC (Million ha) IPU
Pre 1951 22.60 22.60 100
1951-56 26.66 25.04 93.92
1956-61 29.08 27.80 95.6
1961-66 33.57 32.17 95.83
1966-69 37.10 35.75 96.36
1969-74 44.20 41.89 94.77
1974-78 52.02 48.39 93.02
1978-80 56.61 52.57 92.86
1980-85 65.22 58.75 90.07
1985-90 76.44 68.52 89.64
1990-92 81.04 72.79 89.82
1992-97 86.26 77.15 89.44
1997-2002 93.95 80.94 86.15
2002-07 101.74 86.16 84.69
2007-12 113.53 87.92 77.44
Upto 2020 126.73 114.80 90.58
Reasons : Technical and Economic
• Technical :
• Lack of Field Channels : Field channels are required for conveying water from outlet to
each individual field. Lack of field channels leads to poor water management . Farmers
are also reluctant to give their land for field channels as they are not certain of
obtaining canal water.
Technical issues in Irrigation
• Lack of Canal Communication network : Canal water gets wasted through canal escapes
if there is sudden rainfall in command area when demand for irrigation water falls. An
efficient canal communication system will keep the head works control room promptly
informed of the weather conditions so that water is not unnecessarily released into the
canals. Most irrigation systems do not have desired communication facilities.
• Lack of field drainage: While expansion of irrigation system has received considerable
attention in terms of funding, due attention has not been paid to drainage, especially
field drainage. The main and intermediate drains, which have to carry off field drainage
water, are mostly in bad shape choked by weed growth.
Technical aspects of Irrigation
• Improper Field Levelling : Farmers sometimes apply excess water to ensure that water
reaches their plants which are situated on higher levels in their fields;
• Shortage in Power Supply : The water cannot often be pumped as there is shortage of
power which causes low efficiency in irrigation;
• Absence of volumetric supply : The irrigation charges are not based on the volume of
water used but often on the area and not type of crop cultivated. The irrigation charges
do not convey the scarcity value of water and are grossly inadequate to meet the
operating & maintenance charges. There is inefficient collection of water charges, loop-
holes in irrigation acts and remissions announced on account of droughts.
Technical issues in Irrigation
• Inadequate Extension Services : Farmers needs to be continuously educated on
cropping pattern suited to soil and agro climatic conditions, periodicity of water
application, fertilizer, weedicide, pesticide uses, etc. The extension services in most
states are weak and large section of farmers do not receive suitable extension services;
• Silting of Reservoirs : The rate of silting was more than what was assumed originally
and there was loss in dead storage that was provided to accommodate the silt into the
reservoirs. Soil erosion also increases the sedimentation rate.
• Low rainfall : Sometimes there is low rainfall in catchment areas leading to low inflow of
water in the dams;
• Salinity : Some of the fields had become saline due to water logging and hence the potential
created is not realized;
• Cropping Pattern: The farmers who have their field at the head of the canal often cultivate
water intensive crops and hence the water is insufficient for tail users. The cropping
pattern followed in the command area is significantly different from the cropping pattern
envisaged at the time of project preparation. This causes gap between IPC and IPU.
Economic Issues
• Lack of budgetary Support : The budget allocated for maintenance of canals is often
insufficient and hence the canals are poorly maintained;
• Low Charges : The water user charges are fixed at very low levels and in some states
cover only 25 % of costs incurred. Many canals are several decades old and require
annual maintenance. Besides maintenance, many older structures need replenishment
for which sufficient funds are not available. Siltation has lowered the life of the dam
and often the rate of siltation is much in excess of the rate assumed during
construction of the dam;
Economic Issues in Irrigation
• Time and Cost Over runs : Another issue related to most dams is that they are not
completed within the scheduled time and budget and spill over from one Five Year plan
to another. These delays have escalated costs as well as delay in returns from
investment and the viability of the project is also lowered.
• Private investment became popular with farmers digging their own tube wells-electric
and diesel;.
• Long term agricultural credit was also available for digging a well and this brought
about a sharp increase in number of tubewells and alongwith it major problems.
Ground water Issues
• Ground water has now emerged as the major source of irrigation and pumps used were
largely electric;
• This has led to considerable exploitation of ground water . There is no policy governing
the use of ground water.
• The unregulated growth of ground water irrigation, while providing irrigation access to
millions of farmers, has led to mining of ground water aquifers and affected the quality
of groundwater. The water has become saline with excessive nitrates and arsenic.
Ground water issues
• There are issues with electricity pricing also. Electricity use in agriculture is largely
• The flat rates are low and do not cover the cost of supply and in some states even the
flat tariff is zero. This encourages over exploitation of groundwater. The marginal cost
• Farmers often leave the pump switched on for several hours and do not monitor the
fields. This causes severe losses as more electricity is consumed and wasted, water is
go off to sleep while the water floods their fields and drains away;
contributes to 3 % of revenue.
• Promotes unsustainable agriculture as water intensive crops like sugarcane and rice
are cultivated.
Need for Institutional Reforms
• Poor performance of irrigation systems has created a vicious cycle. Lack of water leads
to low productivity and hence farmers get lower net returns. This discourages them
from investing in agriculture, they are unable to bear operating & maintenance costs of
irrigation systems and the structures are not well maintained and there is poor
irrigation services to farmers.
• The budget allocated for irrigation sector is often insufficient to meet the expenses and
provide good services to farmers.
Government Initiatives
• Several schemes have been initiated since independence for enhancing irrigated area
which in turn will increase agricultural productivity; the benefits have however been
limited.
• In 2014, taking into consideration the Pradhan Mantri Krishi Sinchayee Yojana (PMKSY)
was launched in order to promote efficient use of water in agriculture;
• The scheme is expected to provide “an end to end solution”in irrigation supply chain
(water resources, distribution net work, and efficient farm use)
PMKSY
• PMKSY has four programmes :
• PMKSY (Har khet ko Pani) – this includes Command Area development, creation and
strengthening of irrigation net work from source to the farm, and repair, restoration
and renovation of water bodies.
• PMKSY, (Per drop More Crop) – this includes programme management, promoting
precision water application devices and construction of micro irrigation structures,
• Watershed treatment helps in recharging the local aquifers and makes investment in
groundwater irrigation by farmers more viable;
• Focus is now on improving the efficiency of crops-More Crop Per Drop of Water. In this
context Micro Irrigation emerges as a potential answer to the problem of increasing
irrigated area with limited water resources available;
• Micro Irrigation comprises two technologies-drip and sprinkler irrigation. Both these
methods save losses in the conveyance of water and improve water application
efficiency by applying water near the root-zone of the plant.
Micro Irrigation
• Drip systems convey water in small quantities through drippers/micro tubes while
sprinklers are pressurized systems where a fountain or spray of water is released by
the sprinkler connected by pipes resulting in foliar irrigation;
• Micro irrigation has several benefits such as increase in yields, water saving as
compared to surface irrigation, reduces the use of other inputs such as labor and
fertilizers.
Rather than making water governance the sole responsibility of governments, we need to craft a
carefully designed architecture of partnerships where all primary stakeholders get involved in
the collective endeavor of water governance.
,
2. Unidisciplinarity:
Currently, since the goal is command and control through dam construction and
groundwater extraction, the only disciplines involved are engineering and hydrogeology.
Water cannot be understood within this narrow disciplinary focus.
Multidisciplinarity:
Breaking the silos : is needed to take an integrated view of water, so that the current
hydro-schizophrenia can be overcome.
4. No reference to sustainability:
In the preoccupation with extraction and development, there has generally been an
absence of considerations of sustainability, endangering the future of both ground water
and river flows.
The legal framework governing water belongs to the 19th century British Common Law,
which legitimizes and perpetuates inequity in access to water by giving unlimited
powers to draw water to owners of land.
The draft NWFL provides an essential corrective to British Common Law. This would
ensure that no one’s use of water would be able to deprive anyone of their right to
water for life
6. Mihir Shah Committee,2016 Recommends establishment of National Water
Commission :
The single most important factor explaining the drying up of post-monsoon flows in
India’s rivers is the over-extraction of groundwater. The drying up of base flows of
groundwater has converted so many of our “gaining” rivers into “losing” rivers.
i. Recharge of groundwater
ii. Rainwater harvesting
iii. Conjunctive use of surface water and groundwater
iv. Water conservation by increasing water use efficiency
Currently, reuse and recycling of waste water is not practised on a large scale in India.
There is considerable scope to use this alternative in irrigation.
10. Co-ordination & Convergence Mechanism:
• The key to higher, cost-effective yield and sustainable water use is efficient water
management and it is possible only through the combined efforts of the Ministries of
Agriculture, Water Resources and Power.
• A coordinated action plan needs to be put in place through the collaborative efforts of
the concerned ministries not only at the Central level but also at the state level.
11. Emphasis on Awareness Generation & Training:
Training on the use of irrigation water under different soil and environment conditions
should be imparted to farmers, and be an integral part of water resource management.
12. A gradual withdrawal of cultivation of rice, sugarcane and other water-guzzling crops
from the overexploited region of the country is the call of the day.
Conclusion
• India’s growth prospects in the long term depends critically on how fast we can reform
our water sector by moving away from an engineering-centred , command and control
approach to a people-centred, sustainable one.
• As more of the GCA comes under protective irrigation, agriculture will become less
risky and prosper.