Irrigation in India: Status, challenges and options

Abstract

In India, spatial and temporal variation of precipitation has been boundless varying from 11000 mm to 90 mm. The average annual per capita water availability has declined from 5000 cubic meter in year 1950 to 1545 cubic meter in year 2011 and estimated to reduce further to 1341 and 1140 cubic meter in year 2025 and 2050, respectively. Agriculture sector, which provide 54.6% of total employment to growing population, alone consumes more than 90% of total groundwater draft in irrigation. Over the years, groundwater has become dominant source of irrigation due to its independent access and timely availability of water. This outrageous dependency on groundwater has led to depletion of water table in 64% district of the country between TE2002 and TE2016. With collective efforts of government at various levels, utilized irrigated potential including both surface and ground water has increased to 87 Mha while ultimate irrigation potential touched 140 Mha. In context of rapid depletion of water resources, there is need to increase water use efficiency. Efficient method, like microirrigation, can play pivotal role in management of irrigation water demand. Properly designed and managed drip and sprinkler irrigation system have irrigation efficiency about 90% and 70%, respectively contrast to surface irrigation method which have just about 40%. Recognizing the gravity of water scarcity in many part of the country, government has started formulating its water policy pivotal to micro irrigation. In year 2015, government has bundled all ongoing irrigation schemes into Pradhan Mantri Krishi Sinchayee Yojna (PMKSY) in which micro irrigation as an integral component. The successful adoption of water efficient technologies has two preconditions namely technical know-how and its accessibility through institutional support systems. Government has taken many initiatives to intensify outreach of efficient irrigation technology to farm.

Full text

Irrigation in India: Status, challenges and options
RAJNI JAIN1*, PRABHAT KISHORE2 and DHIRENDRA KUMAR SINGH3
Received: 13 February 2019; Accepted: 28 June 2019
ABSTRACT
In India, spatial and temporal variation of precipitation has been boundless varying from 11000 mm to
90 mm. The average annual per capita water availability has declined from 5000 cubic meter in year 1950
to 1545 cubic meter in year 2011 and estimated to reduce further to 1341 and 1140 cubic meter in year
2025 and 2050, respectively. Agriculture sector, which provide 54.6% of total employment to growing
population, alone consumes more than 90% of total groundwater draft in irrigation. Over the years,
groundwater has become dominant source of irrigation due to its independent access and timely
availability of water. This outrageous dependency on groundwater has led to depletion of water table in
64% district of the country between TE2002 and TE2016. With collective efforts of government at various
levels, utilized irrigated potential including both surface and ground water has increased to 87 Mha
while ultimate irrigation potential touched 140 Mha. In context of rapid depletion of water resources,
there is need to increase water use efficiency. Efficient method, like microirrigation, can play pivotal role
in management of irrigation water demand. Properly designed and managed drip and sprinkler irrigation
system have irrigation efficiency about 90% and 70%, respectively contrast to surface irrigation method
which have just about 40%. Recognizing the gravity of water scarcity in many part of the country,
government has started formulating its water policy pivotal to micro irrigation. In year 2015, government
has bundled all ongoing irrigation schemes into Pradhan Mantri Krishi Sinchayee Yojna (PMKSY) in which
micro irrigation as an integral component. The successful adoption of water efficient technologies has
two preconditions namely technical know-how and its accessibility through institutional support
systems. Government has taken many initiatives to intensify outreach of efficient irrigation technology
to farm.
Key words: Water resources, Micro-irrigation, Schemes, Optimum crop plan, India
Journal of Soil and Water Conservation 18(4): 354-363, October-December 2019
ISSN: 022-457X (Print); 2455-7145 (Online); DOI: 10.5958/2455-7145.2019.00050.X
1Principal Scientist, 2Scientist, ICAR-National Institute of Agricultural Economics and Policy Research, New Delhi-110012
3Principal Scientist, ICAR-Indian Agricultural Research Institute, New Delhi-110012
*Corresponding author Email id: rajni.jain@icar.gov.in
INTRODUCTION
Efficient utilization of available water resources
is crucial for a country like, India, which shares 17%
of the global population with only 2.4% of land and
4% of the water resources. Further, per capita
availability in terms of average utilizable water
resources, which was 5247 m3 in 1951 (presently
1453 m3) is expected to dwindle down to 1170 m3
by 2050 (CWC, 2015). Agricultural sector alone
consumes 80% of the ground water (Harsha, 2017).
The declining trend of groundwater level in all parts
of the country also indicates that the assured supply
of good quality water will become a concern for
country’s development (Manivannan et al.,
2017).The overall efficiency of the flood irrigation
system range between 25-40% (Amarasinghe, 2007).
Overall, micro irrigation shows superiority over
other traditional irrigation methods in term of water
use efficiency, energy saving, yield increase and net
return per unit volume of groundwater (Kumar and
Palanisami, 2010; Chandrakanth et al., 2013). To
meet the food security, income and nutritional
needs of the projected population in 2050, the food
production in India will have to be almost doubled.
The groundwater table can be improved with
construction of various artificial conservation
practices and improve crop productivity (Paul and
Panigarhi, 2016). All these emphasize the need for
water conservation and improvement in water-use
efficiency to achieve More Crops per Drop. The
paper is organized as follows. Firstly, the paper
presents status of irrigation in India followed by
challenges of irrigation systems in India. The paper
also highlights various schemes of irrigation and
availability of surface and ground water. Lastly, we
discuss various options to overcome these
challenges, government initiations for efficient
water management in agriculture followed by
conclusion. This paper represents the personal
opinion of the authors and does not represent the
position or opinions of ICAR or its institute.

IRRIGATION IN INDIA 355October-December 2019]
STATUS OF IRRIGATION IN INDIA
Irrigation is main consumer of fresh water and
more than 90 per cent of groundwater draft in India.
Growing population coupled with food security has
put extra pressure on water resources. Country has
reached a situation where the demand of water
from various sector of economy is rapidly
increasing while the supply of fresh water is
constant. Additionally, water overuse harms the
environment by increased salinity, nutrient
pollution, and the degradation and loss of flood
plains and wetlands. Owing to poor water resource
management system and climate change India faces
a persistent water shortage.
Spatial and temporal variation of precipitation
has been boundless varying maximum in
Cherrapunji (>11000mm) to lowest in western
Rajasthan (<100 mm). In India, annual precipitation
is nearly 4000 BCM and average flow of rivers is
estimated to be 1869 BCM. But nearly 75% of rainfall
occurs during monsoon season (June-Sept), which
restricted utilizable quantum of surface water to
690 BCM. Total annual replenishable groundwater
potential in the country estimated to be 433 BCM
in which rainfall contribute 74% in groundwater
recharge and the rest is contributed by canal, pond
and other water conservation practices. With an
annual groundwater draft of 253 BCM, irrigation
alone consumes nearly 91% of total draft irrigating
62% of total irrigated area of the country (CGWB,
2017). But groundwater development is not uniform
across the country.
Net irrigated area (%) of India has increased
from nearly 18 to 48% in recent times due to
government interventions at various levels (Fig. 1).
Although government has given much emphasis
on improving canal system in various five year
plans but it has declined over years (Fig. 1). People
have identified groundwater irrigation as much
reliable and independent source of irrigation.
Groundwater irrigation has taken quantum jump
since 1965.
Irrigation schemes and sources
Planning commission has classified the
irrigation in India in 3 types namely major
(cultivable command area (CCA) >10000 ha),
medium (CCA from 2000-10000 ha) and minor
(CCA <2000 ha) irrigation schemes. Created
irrigation potential increased from 22.8 Million ha
(Mha) to 107.2 Mha while utilized irrigated
potential (both surface and ground water) increased
to 87 Mha (Table 1).
Since 1950-51, the government had given
considerable importance to the development of
command area under canals. As a result presently,
India has gross irrigated area of 96.46 Mha, net
irrigated area 68.38 Mha and food grain production
of 275.11 million tonnes in 2016-17. In 1950-51, the
canal irrigated area was 8.3 million hectares and it
currently (2014-15) stands at 16.18 million hectares.
On the other hand, the well and tube well accounted
for 29% total irrigated area in 1950-51 and now they
share 63% of the total irrigated area. Despite that,
the relative importance of canals has come down
Fig. 1. Irrigation trends since 1950-51 (Source: based on data from DES, 2017-18); % Irrigated area : Net Irrigated area to net
sown area, % Groundwater irrigated: Groundwater irrigated area share in net irrigated area, % Canal irrigated : Canal
irrigated area share in net irrigated area

356 JAIN et al. [Journal of Soil & Water Conservation 18(4)
Table 1. Source wise created utilized and ultimate irrigation potential
Source Irrigation potential (million hectares)
At the time of Up to 2007-12 Ultimate
independence
Created & Utilized Created Utilized
Major & medium (Surface water) 9.7 47.97 34.95 58.5
Minor (Surface water) 6.4 NA NA 17.3
Minor (Surface & ground water) 12.9 65.56 52.5 81.4
Total (Major, medium and minor) 22.6 113.53 87.86 139.9
Source: CWC (2015); DES, GoI (2017)
Table 2. Net Irrigated area from various sources and their relative contribution
Source 2009-10 2014-15
NIA (Mha) Contribution (%) NIA (Mha) Contribution (%)
Canal 16.697 26.40 16.18 23.66
Tank 1.638 2.59 1.72 2.52
Wells 39.042 61.72 42.96 62.82
Others 5.880 9.30 7.52 11.00
Total 63.257 100 68.38 100
Source: DES, MoA&FW, GoI (2018)
from 40% in 1951 to 24% in 2014-15. Table 2
highlights that irrigated area under canals and tank
has been declining since 2009-10 but area under
groundwater sources are on rise, which is a matter
of concern.
There has been a lot of spatial variation among
different sources of irrigation. Well Irrigation is
common in alluvial plains of the country except the
deserts of Rajasthan. Plains of UP, Bihar, Gujarat,
Karnataka and Tamil Nadu are the states which are
more prominently under the well irrigation. Canals
are second most important source of irrigation in
India after wells and tube wells. The canals are
irrigating those lands, which have large plains,
fertile soils and perennial rivers. The plains of North
India are mostly canal irrigated. Other parts are
coastal low lands and some parts of Peninsular
India. The states are: Andhra Pradesh, Assam,
Haryana, Jammu & Kashmir, West Bengal, Punjab
Rajasthan, Bihar, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu and Uttar
Pradesh. The Tank irrigation is more in the rocky
plateau area of the county, where the rainfall is
uneven and highly seasonal. The Eastern Madhya
Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Orissa, interiors of Tamil
Nadu and some parts of Andhra Pradesh have more
land under tank irrigation.
CHALLENGES FOR IRRIGATION IN INDIA
Depletion of water table
India invested nearly 4,000 million US dollars
in public canal systems during 1991-2007 (Dhawan,
2017). Yet the canal-irrigated area decreased by 38
lakh hectares during that period, as infrastructure
is old, water supply is unreliable, further there are
no incentives. This implies that “despite of heavy
public expenditure on canals, our governments
have not been able to reduce the groundwater
depletion”. The key reason is widening gap
between irrigation potential created and actually
utilized.
States with the highest dependency on ground
water for irrigation include Punjab (79% of the area
irrigated is by tube-wells and wells), Uttar Pradesh
(80%) and Uttarakhand (67%). As per the
assessment carried out by the Central Ground
Water Board (CGWB) in 2013, India’s total annual
replenishable groundwater resource is around 433
billion cubic meters (BCM) and net annual ground
water availability is 398 BCM of which India
withdraws 253 BCM (62%) annually. According to
the CGWB, around 39% of the wells are showing a
decline in groundwater level. Out of 6,584
assessment units in the country, 1,034 units (in 15
states and 2 union territories) have been categorized
as “over exploited” based on the stage of
groundwater withdrawal as well as long term
decline in groundwater level (CGWB, 2017).
The deterioration of groundwater resources is
the outcome of technology and policy led shift in
cropping pattern (towards paddy), irrigation source
(towards groundwater) and energy source (towards
electricity) in Punjab (Srivastava et al., 2015).

IRRIGATION IN INDIA 357October-December 2019]
Agricultural advancement in Punjab was achieved
at cost of over-exploitation of groundwater (Singh,
2012; Kulkarni and Shah, 2013). Total annual
groundwater draft in Punjab is 14.56 BCM higher
than the sustainable limit leading to drastic decline
in groundwater level from 8 meter in 1999 to 15
meter in 2014 (Srivastava et al., 2015; Srivastava et
al., 2017). Unsustainable use of groundwater in
Punjab (with 16 districts out of its 22 districts having
more than 100% ground water development) has
led to continuous depletion of ground water table
in Punjab (Fig. 2). It seems introduction of free
electricity policy for irrigation in 1997 has been one
major cause for depleting ground water table in
Punjab.
Uneven rainfall distribution
In India, nearly half of the net sown area comes
under rainfed lands. Even after achieving ultimate
irrigation potential, 31% of cultivable area will
remain under rainfed cultivation. There has been
substantial disparity in rainfall, both in time and
space with strong risks of dry spells at critical stages
of crop even during good rainfall years (Fig. 3).
There has been considerable spatial and
temporal variation in rainfall in India. Most of the
rainfall occurs with onset of southwest monsoon
during June to October month. It varies from less
than 100 mm in western Rajasthan to more than
2500mm in northeast region of country (CWC,
2017). Flood considered to be devastating natural
calamities, led damaged of crops worth of Rs.
3214.99 crore grown on 31.58 million hectare in year
2013. This has affected 21.13 million peoples and
caused total loss for economy worth Rs. 11095.14
crore in same year (CWC, 2015).
1980
1983
1986
1989
1992
1995
1998
2001
2004
2007
2010
2013
Year Year
-60 -50 -40 -30 -20 -10 0 0
-10
-20
-30
-40
-50
-60
-70
-80
-90
-100
0
-2
-4
-6
-8
-10
-12
-14
-16
Water level (mbgl)
Free electricity policy
1997
per cent of observation wells (%)
(a) (b)
Fig. 2. Trend in average groundwater level (panel a) and cumulative distribution curve of observation wells (panel b) in
Punjab
Fig. 3. Seasonal variation of rainfall in India
Milli meter
Per cent

358 JAIN et al. [Journal of Soil & Water Conservation 18(4)
Poor irrigation efficiency
Inadequate off-farm and on-farm infras-
tructures and poor maintenance leads to poor
irrigation efficiency e.g. unlined canal and farm
channels. Overall, average irrigation efficiency is
observed as 38 per cent, which is much below
desired efficiency. Average conveyance efficiency
is 70 per cent. Thus, there is scope to reduce losses
occurring due to poor irrigation infrastructure like
unlined canal and channels. Similarly on farm
application efficiency is also only 50 per cent. It was
estimated (Arshad et al., 2009) that lining of
watercourses reduced water loss by 22.5 per cent.
The probable causes of water leakage are cracks,
eroded mortar and structural failure of lined walls.
Also due to absence of non-availability of control
structures and regulation gates, there is inadequate
and irregular canal water supply in many command
area. Further, many times canals have breaches,
which cause displacement of thousands of people,
destruction of properties, land, and damage to
costly crops worth millions rupees. In addition to
that, breach failures also can cause water shortages
when the failure occurs during the peak demand
period. There are various causes of embankment
failures, which include overtopping, internal
erosion, structural defects and piping.
Huge and increasing gap between created and utilized
irrigation potential
There has been a large gap in utilization of
created potential. At the end of Eleventh plan, total
utilization of irrigation potential was to the extent
of 87.86 million hectares as against the total created
potential of 113.53 million hectares showing a gap
of 25.67 million hectares (CWC, 2015). The main
reasons behind this non-utilization of created
potential are delay involved in the development of
on-farm works like construction of field channels,
land leveling or shaping and adoption of the
warabandi system and finally the time taken by
farmers in switching over the new cropping
patterns, i.e., from dry farming to irrigated farming
(Fig. 4).
Frequent droughts and ground water overuse
The frequency of occurrence of drought years
has significantly increased in India. The period
between 1950 and 1989 had 10 drought years, while
there have been five droughts in the last 16 years
(since 2000). According to meteorologists, the
frequency is set to increase between 2020 and 2049.
In India, the lack of monsoons result in water
shortages, resulting in below-average crop yields.
This particularly occurs in major drought-prone
regions (more than 60% area of the country) such
as Southern and Eastern Maharashtra (Western
India), Northern Karnataka (South-Western India),
Andhra Pradesh (Southeastern coast of India),
Odisha (Eastern coast of India), Telangana
(Southeastern coast of India) and Rajasthan
(Western India). Increased groundwater use during
droughts can help overcome such critical periods.
However, the resulting groundwater overuse and
quality deterioration mean there is also less
groundwater available for agriculture than there
was before, thus causing even more pressure on
agricultural production. In Gujarat, (Western India)
semiarid northern region, one of the most
intensively irrigated regions in India; water
availability is a concern because groundwater
irrigation contributes more than 90% of the overall
Fig. 4. Increasing gap between created and utilized irrigation potential (CWC, 2015)
Million hectare

IRRIGATION IN INDIA 359October-December 2019]
livelihoods of the farms. It is worth mentioning that
in some tehsils of Latur, there is no water even 304
meters below the ground. Just in one year (2015-
16) the water table in Latur has gone down by 3.5
to 4.0 meters.
WATER MANAGEMENT OPTIONS
As the agriculture sector alone consumes about
80% of the total withdrawal of water, so its
management become pivotal for food security.
Supply-side management practices include
watershed development and water resource
development through major, medium and minor
irrigation projects; and development of drainage
system to avoid salinity and water logging
problems. Demand management practices include
enhancement of water use efficiency, optimal crop
plans and balancing virtual water trade. This
section presents some water management practices
below.
Infrastructural development for adequate and regular
water supply
There is inadequate and irregular canal water
supply in many commands. To tackle this
conjunctive water use needs to be facilitated.
Further, creation of appropriate infrastructures is
required to supplement canal water and ground
water.
Drainage for water logging and salinity in major
irrigation commands
The problem of water logging and salinity
requires conjunctive water use with emphasis on
ground water pumping to dewater the aquifer.
Further, drainage system should be put in place
using suitable horizontal pipe drainage, vertical
pipe drainage and optimally designed multiple well
point drainage system.
Improving irrigation efficiency
The traditional methods of irrigation have low
irrigation efficiency due to excessive seepage loss,
inequitable and untimely supplies. Micro-irrigation
can play vital role in improvement in water use
efficiency. Application of sprinkler and drip
irrigation wherever applicable improves irrigation
efficiency. Further canal automation and volumetric
measurement of supply, bench marking of
irrigation systems, water audit/ budgeting and
appropriate pricing of water can increase irrigation
efficiency. The method of irrigation followed in the
country is flood irrigation, which results in a lot of
water loss. Greater efficiency in irrigation was
achieved through proper designing of irrigation
system for reducing water conveyance loss.
Adoptions of water saving technologies such as
sprinkler and drip irrigation systems have proven
extremely effective in not just water conservation
but also leading to higher yields. Comparison of
various methods of irrigation suggests that drip
irrigation achieves highest application efficiency of
90 per cent with overall efficiency ranging between
80-90 per cent (Table 3). New agronomic practices
like raised bed planting, ridge-furrow method of
sowing, subsurface irrigation and precision farming
are also helpful in improving water efficiency.
Water pricing is also helpful in improving
irrigation efficiency. In case of Punjab, India where
ground water is over exploited due to free electricity
for irrigation, de-subsidizing will help in reducing
irrigation and saving of ground water (Table 4).
Table 4. Effect of withdrawal of subsidy on use of ground water for irrigation of important crops in case of Punjab, India
S. No. Particulars Paddy Wheat Sugarcane Maize Cotton
1 Effect on groundwater use (cum/ha) -3533 -1200 -2749 -1217 -1478
2 Present level of groundwater use (cum/ha) 12151 2520 6735 1485 3920
3 Change in groundwater use (%) -29 -48 -41 -82 -38
Source: Adapted from Srivastava et al. (2017)
Table 3. Irrigation efficiencies under different methods of irrigation
Irrigation efficiencies Method of irrigation
Surface Sprinkler Drip
Conveyance efficiency (%) 40-50 (canal) 100 100
60-70 (well)
Application efficiency (%) 60-70 70-80 90
Surface water moisture evaporation (%) 30-40 30-40 20-25
Overall efficiency (%) 30-35 50-60 80-90
Source: Sivanappan (1998); Dhawan (2002); Saleth (2009); Narayanmoorthy (2006); Kumar and Palanisami (2010)

360 JAIN et al. [Journal of Soil & Water Conservation 18(4)
Optimum crop plans
Due to varying water requirement of each crop,
ground water exploitation may be reduced by
shifting water intensive crops to the regions having
ground water abundance (Jain et al., 2016; Table 5).
In their case study on Punjab, they used
optimization approach to restrict the ground water
use to replenishable level of ground water (22 BCM)
against existing level of ground water use (34 BCM).
As per the recommendations, to restrict ground
water use to replenishable limit, area under paddy,
kharif vegetables, potato, oilseeds, sugarcane and
other crops including fodder has to be reduced and
shifted towards maize in kharif season and wheat
in rabi season. However, it requires giving
incentives to farmers adopting optimum crop plans
to compensate for losses in farm income due to
adoption of optimum cropping pattern which
provides lesser income at current level of
technology and market price (Jain et al., 2016). Table
5 highlights the need to review the cropping pattern
and to shift cultivation of water intensive crops
towards water abundant areas. Jain et al. (2019)
presents detailed methodology for developing
optimum plans using case study of Punjab.
Virtual water trade
Indian farmers use 2-4 times more water to
produce a unit of grain as compared to China and
Brazil. Virtual water flow from states like Punjab
(facing depletion of ground water) needs attention.
India is a net importer of one per cent of available
water every year in the form of virtual water
(Dhawan, 2017). Ratio of virtual water export to
import is 4 and 0.1 for India and China respectively.
Thus, china is a net importer of water. India exports
water intensive commodities like rice, cotton,
sugarcane, soybean while China exports vegetables,
fruits and processed food items. It requires 3000-
3500 Litres of water to produce 1 kg of rice. Thus,
there is a need to revisit trade policies to reduce
virtual water flow from India.
Improving water productivity
Water productivity denotes the amount or value
of product over volume of water depleted or
diverted. Various options for improving water
productivity of crops are : (i) water should be priced
at a level enough to motivate farmers to save water
(Bakia et al., 2018), (ii) New revenue from water
pricing should be offset with tax exemption or other
subsidies, (iii) subsidies for energy for water
pumping should be abandoned for ground water
irrigation,(iv) biological water-saving measures,
engineering solutions, agronomic and soil
manipulation should be collectively explored.
GOVERNMENT INITIATIVES ON
IRRIGATION MANAGEMENT
Water management organizations
Water Management organizations like Central
Water Commission (CWC) for promoting
integrated and sustainable development for
management of water resources and Central
Ground Water Board (CGWB) for management of
ground water resources were established. CWC and
CGWB have formulated “General Guidelines for
Water Audit and Water Conservation”. These
Table 5. Optimum crop model for ground water use restricted to replenishable limit in Punjab: Ground water sustainability
scenario
Crops Existing area Optimum area Direction of change
(‘000 ha) (‘000 ha) required
Kharif crops
Paddy (including Basmati) 2760 1143 -
Maize 136 218 +
Vegetables 57 29 -
Others (including fodder) 28 36 -
Rabi Crops
Wheat 3520 3945 +
Vegetables 65 104 +
Potato 69 35 _
Oilseeds (Rapeseed+Sunflower) 51 48 _
Others (including fodder) 39.1 28 _
Sugarcane (annual crop) 70 35 _
Source: Adapted from Jain et al. (2016)

IRRIGATION IN INDIA 361October-December 2019]
guidelines have been circulated to all the state
governments, concerned central ministries, and
other utilities for framing their own specific
guidelines. Following these guidelines, some of the
state governments such as Punjab, Gujarat and
Maharashtra are offering subsidy on irrigation
related aspects.
Subsidy to improve efficiency of irrigation system
To mitigate water scarcity and reduce irrigation
water demand, government has focused on
increasing irrigation efficiency. To enhance water
use efficiency, government at centre as well as at
state is providing huge subsidies to increase
adoption rate of efficient irrigation method like
micro irrigation.These include districts of South and
North Interior Karnataka (Southern India);
Rayalseema in Andhra Pradesh (Southeastern coast
of India); Vidarbha and Marathwada in
Maharashtra (Western India); Western Rajasthan
and Bundelkhand region of Uttar Pradesh
(Northern India) and Madhya Pradesh (Central
India).
Various schemes launched by central government led
emergence of micro irrigation
Recognizing the importance of micro irrigation,
Central Government emphasized on micro
irrigation in 1992, 2006 (Centrally Sponsored
Scheme on Micro Irrigation), 2010 (Nation Mission
on Micro Irrigation) and 2014 (National Mission for
Sustainable Agriculture). Subsuming all the
schemes of irrigation, Pradhan Mantri Krishi
Sinchayee Yojana (PMKSY) was launched in 2015,
integrating micro irrigation as an integral
component. This programme includes creating
infrastructure to bring water to farms and
watershed development. All these programmes and
schemes have been initiated by the government
with specific objectives to improve the water use
efficiency and water productivity by raising more
crops per drop of water.
Despite these efforts, still a specialized solution
is required in chronically water stressed areas
where measures implemented until now were
ineffective. Understanding best practices from other
countries and India’s own community based
interventions models will help present policy
thinkers and planners to enhance governance
structures and understand key indicators that can
assist in data-driven decision-making.
IMPACT OF GOVERNMENT INITIATIVES ON
MICRO-IRRIGATION
Status of micro-irrigation in India
In-spite of many initiatives and schemes by
Government of India, the status of Micro- Irrigation
(MI) is not encouraging. Total area covered under
MI is 10.3 million ha while there is potential of 69.5
million ha under MI. Thus, the country achieved
target of 14.8% of potential area under MI (Table
6). Share of total area under MI is highest in
Rajasthan (17.9%), Andhra Pradesh (15.5%) and
Maharashtra (15.1%). Andhra Pradesh is leader in
adopting drip irrigation with its share of 24.1%
Table 6. Distribution of micro irrigation area among states and penetration to gross sown area
State Drip Sprinkler Total Penetration##
(%) (%) (%) (%)
Andhra Pradesh 24.1 7.9 15.5 20.6
Gujarat 13.3 11.8 12.5 10.0
Haryana 0.6 10.3 5.8 9.1
Karnataka 12.2 12.9 12.5 10.5
Madhya Pradesh 6.1 4.2 5.1 2.2
Maharashtra 22.8 8.3 15.1 6.6
Rajasthan 4.8 29.4 17.9 7.6
Tamil Nadu 8.6 1.7 4.9 8.4
Telangana 3.4 1.1 2.2 4.2
Others 4.0 12.5 8.6 1.2
Total area (mha)# 100 (4.7) 100 (5.6) 100 (10.3) 198.4
Potential area (mha)* 27.0 42.5 69.5
% achievement to Potential estimated 17.4 13.2 14.8
Source: Ministry of Agriculture (2017); ’#’: figures in parenthesis refer to country area in million hectares; ‘*’:estimated by
Task force on Micro Irrigation, 2004; ‘##’: per cent micro irrigation area to its gross sown area.

362 JAIN et al. [Journal of Soil & Water Conservation 18(4)
while Rajasthan is leading in sprinklers with its
share of 29.4 per cent. Punjab which is most affected
by depletion of water table covers less than one per
cent of total area under drip irrigation and sprinkler
irrigation each. Andhra Pradesh have covered its
nearly 21% of gross cropped area under micro
irrigation which is highest among all states.
Case studies of micro-irrigation
To assess the impact, the economics of drip
irrigation were worked out for banana, coconut and
grapes in Tamil Nadu (Kumar and Palanisami,
2010). The adoption of drip irrigation has significant
positive impact on the cost of cultivation and
returns to the farmers (Table 7). The economics of
banana cultivation revealed that the cost of labour
was significantly lower under the drip method (Rs
9761/ha), which was 69% less than in the control
villages (Rs 31487/ha). The drip method saved
nearly 71% of weeding labour when compared to
flood method of irrigation. Since grape cultivation
is sensitive to water stress and involves huge labour
for irrigation, weeding, training and pruning, the
drip could result in significant savings in water and
labour, leading to reduction in cost of cultivation.
The analysis of economics of crop cultivation under
drip and flood methods of irrigation has revealed
that the former has a significant impact on resources
saving, cost of cultivation, yield of crops and farm
profitability. The physical water and energy
productivity was significantly high in drip than
flood method of irrigation.
National Mission on micro-irrigation (NMMI)
conducted an impact study based on survey of 5892
beneficiaries. The study was done for government
of India in 2014. The results shows that there is 42
per cent increase in farmers income and savings in
irrigation cost, fertilizer cost and energy consum-
ption. Further fruits and vegetables productivity
also increased by 40-50 per cent (Fig. 5).
CONCLUSION
In India, groundwater has become dominant
source of Irrigation. On the other hand, there is
Table 7. Impact of drip irrigation in banana, coconut and grapes
Particulars Banana Coconut Grapes
Drip Control Drip Control Drip Control
Quantity of water applied (m3) 8979* 12669 3096* 10855 5195* 6757
Quantity of energy consumed (kWh) 2219* 8294 917* 7423 550* 3124
Cost of labour (Rs.) 9761* 31487 3733* 12024 17324* 29433
Capital (Rs.) 80369* 104351 27510* 32560 50690* 60124
Yield (’00 nuts &tones) 60.34* 57.79 227* 201 22.84* 19.45
Gross income (Rs.) 280602* 267400 105443* 86419 246668* 233454
Gross margin (Rs.) 200232* 163048 77933* 53859 195978* 173330
Yield per water Unit (kg/m3) 7.4* 4.9 7.3* 1.9 4.7* 3.1
yield per unit of energy (kg/kWh) 28.6* 7.2 28.6* 2.6 43.7* 6.2
Return per unit of water (Rs./m3) 23.8* 13.3 25* 5 41* 27
Return per unit of energy (Rs./kWh) 92.3* 19.8 98* 7 378* 55
Source: Kumar and Palanisami (2010); ‘*’ refers to values are significantly different at 1 per cent level from its control
Fig. 5. Impact of Micro-Irrigation on beneficiaries (Source: National Mission on Micro Irrigation Impact study prepared for
the GoI, 2014); the percent change figures are according to a survey of 5,892 beneficiaries of NMMI across 13 states.
Per cent change

IRRIGATION IN INDIA 363October-December 2019]
large gap between the ultimate and utilized surface
water potential. With continual diminishing per
capita water availability coupled with groundwater
exploitation, it has become imperative to switch to
efficient water saving technologies and alternative
source of irrigation like canal and rain water,
rainwater harvesting. Rapid depletion of water
table, low irrigation efficiency, and frequent
droughts indicate towards water crisis in near
future if existing water use pattern is not rectified.
Irrigation infrastructure needs to be further
improved to harvest rainwater and increase storage
capacity in order to utilize runoff water. Micro
irrigation has scope for improving irrigation
efficiency up to 90 per cent. Further, micro irrigation
and optimum crop plan will play decisive role in
conservation of water resources and food security
of the nation. Virtual water trade should be
balanced instead of orienting it towards export.
Farmers should be made aware of the various
government schemes to utilize their utmost
potential which is lacking in some states.
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