Irrigation Issues In India 2018 — FarmGuide
Globally, many poor and hungry people live in regions where access to water is a constraint for increasing food production. Groundwater has become a main source of growth in irrigated areas in India. It accounts for more than 60% of the irrigated areas and rapidly emerged to occupy a dominant place in India’s agriculture and food security.
About 70% of the paddy and wheat production in India is from irrigated areas. Heavy subsidies in electricity consumed for agriculture have tended to encourage wasteful use of energy and water.
This has also encouraged farmers to overdraw water from deep aquifers, causing substantial depletion of the water table and deterioration of water quality in many cases. There has been unprecedented crop diversification, due to unregulated groundwater development.
The preference for water-intensive crops like rice, sugarcane, banana, cotton, etc., is high in regions known only for groundwater availability. It is to be clearly understood that despite huge groundwater potential for agricultural growth, the country is heading towards an irrigation crisis.
The above information has been curated from a paper presented by Upali A. Amarasinghe and Stefanos Xenarios
Irrigation Water Sources In India
In India, there are five main sources of water that people use for various purposes -
- Rainwater
- River water
- Groundwater
- Wastewater
- Seawater
Rainwater
It is the greatest asset available. The most important step for supply augmentation in India today is rainwater harvesting. The national rural employment guarantee program (NREGP) plays a vital role in water harvesting and watershed development programs.
River water
River water, a part of the river linking project, is also important. However, there are many conflicts in water sharing between neighboring nations and between states at present.
Groundwater
It is the most dominant water use at present. It contributes most to both receding and rising water tables in many regions. Managing this resource is the most important short- to long-term water management challenge.
Wastewater
Wastewater recycling is gradually increasing in metropolitan areas. This is an important source not only for raising fodder and other crops but for breeding fish. Industries can be made to give back the water by proper methods of recycling.
Seawater
It is useful for agro-aqua-farming, including agro-forestry and aquaculture. Given India’s 7,500 km shore line, this aspect of using seawater productively requires more consideration.
Issues in Indian Irrigation Sector
- Low Rainfall
- Poor Utilization of Irrigation Facilities
- Low Irrigation Efficiency
- Ineffective Ground Water Policy
- Increasing Demand of Water
- Surface Water Over Exploitation
- Climate Change Challenges
Low Rainfall
There is a huge temporal and spatial variation in rainfall and water availability in the country. While average annual rainfall is 1170 mm, some parts of north east get around 10000 mm per year, while parts of western Rajasthan get only 100 mm. The below graphics shows that that around 68% of total net sown area fall under either lower or low rainfall.
The basin wise availability of water is also quite varied — the Ganga- Brahmaputra river basin contributes more than 50 per cent of the total annual water availability, and the Southern and Western basins contribute about 15 per cent each.
Poor Utilization of Irrigation Facilities
The potential created for irrigation is 112 million ha, and the gross irrigated area is merely 93 million ha. There is a staggering gap of 19 million ha.
The major causes for the gap between potential tapped and potential possible are poor maintenance of the canal system, lack of participatory management, changing land use pattern, deviation from the designated cropping pattern, soil degradation and delay in the development of the command area.
Low Irrigation Efficiency
As per the Report of the Task Force on Irrigation (2009) constituted by the then Planning Commission, the gross water use is about 1.45 m (4.8 feet) per ha of the gross irrigated area. This is very high compared to water use in irrigation systems in developed countries.
This overuse in the country reflects low irrigation efficiency, of about 25% to 35% in most irrigation systems, with efficiency of 40% to 45% in a few exceptional cases.
Ineffective Ground Water Policy
Groundwater has rapidly emerged to occupy a dominant place in India’s agriculture and food security. It has become the main source of growth in irrigated area, and it now accounts for over 60% of the irrigated area. About 70% of the paddy and wheat production in the country is from irrigated areas. Heavy subsidies in electricity consumed for agriculture have tended to encourage wasteful use of energy and water.
The preference for water-intensive crops like rice, sugarcane, banana, cotton, etc., is high in regions known only for groundwater availability. It is to be clearly understood that despite huge groundwater potential for agricultural growth, the country is heading towards an irrigation crisis.
Increasing Demand of Water
Agriculture sector is using about 83 per cent of available water resources, but demand from other sectors may reduce availability for agricultural use to 68% by 2050.
Surface Water Over Exploitation
Overuse of surface water leads to drainage problems, which in turn leads to Water logging in some areas. Water-logging, however, is mostly associated with unlined or poorly maintained canal irrigation systems.
Climate Change Challenges
Temperature drives the hydro-logic cycle, and influences hydro-logical processes in a direct or indirect way. A warmer climate may lead to intensification of the hydro-logical cycle, resulting in higher rates of evaporation and increase of liquid precipitation. Its impact is further compounded by surging population, increasing industrialization and associated demands on freshwater.
The above content has been curated from here and this article is posted on the FarmGuide blog.
