Irrigation in India

Not to be confused with Water supply and sanitation in India.
An irrigation canal in Gujarat. Irrigation contributes significantly to the agriculture in India.

Irrigation in India includes a network of major and minor canals from Indian rivers, groundwater well based systems, tanks, and other rainwater harvesting projects for agricultural activities. Of these groundwater system is the largest.[1] In 2013–14, only about 36.7% of total agricultural land in India was reliably irrigated,[2] and remaining 2/3 cultivated land in India is dependent on monsoons.[3] 65% of the irrigation in India is from groundwater.[4] Currently[when?] about 51% of the agricultural area cultivating food grains is covered by irrigation. The rest of the area is dependent on rainfall which is most of the times unreliable and unpredictable.

Indian government launched a demand side water management plan costing ₹6000 crore or USD854 million across 8,350 water stressed villages of 78 districts in seven states – Gujarat, Haryana, Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh – over five years from 2021–22 to 2026–27, with the view to harvest rainwater, enhance water table, water recharge rate with village panchayat level water management plans.[4] Most of the canal irrigation is in the canal network of Ganges-Yamuna basin mainly in the states of Punjab, Haryana, and Uttar Pradesh and somewhat in Rajasthan and Bihar, while small local canal networks also exist in the south in Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, and Kerala.[5] The largest canal in India is Indira Gandhi Canal, which is about 650 km (400 mi) long.[3] India has an ambitious river linking national project to enhance the coverage of canal-irrigated area, reduce floods and water shortage.[6][7]

Irrigation in India helps improve food security, reduce dependence on monsoons, improve agricultural productivity and create rural job opportunities. Dams used for irrigation projects help produce electricity and transport facilities, as well as provide drinking water supplies to a growing population, control floods and prevent droughts.[6]

  1. ^ Cite error: The named reference ssground was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  2. ^ Cite error: The named reference wbirrig was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  3. ^ a b Economic Times: How to solve the problems of India's rain-dependent on agricultural land
  4. ^ a b PM Launches Rs 6,000 Crore Groundwater Management Plan, NDTV, 25 December 2019.
  5. ^ Pooja Mondal, Canals Irrigation in India (With Maps an Pictures).
  6. ^ a b National Water Development Agency Ministry of Water Resources, Govt of India (2014)
  7. ^ Jayanta Bandyopadhyay and Shama Perveen (2003), The Interlinking of Indian Rivers: Some Questions on the Scientific, Economic and Environmental Dimensions of the Proposal Archived 14 July 2014 at the Wayback Machine IIM Calcutta, IISWBM, Kolkata