India’s achievement of self-sufficiency in food production has primarily been driven by the significant expansion in irrigation accompanied by high yielding varieties and input use. The extent of irrigated crop area as a percentage to gross cropped area rose from about 17% in 1950-51 to about 55% in 2022-23 as per the latest land use statistics data released by the Department of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare, Ministry of Agriculture in September 2024.
Nevertheless, nearly half of the existing cultivated area in the country is still under the mercy of erratic monsoons, which frequently result in potential yield and income uncertainties for farmers. In this regard, a research article published in August 23 RBI bulletin indicated that improving irrigation infrastructure could mitigate the adverse impact of deficit monsoons on crop output.
Limited scope for further expansion in area under cultivation
Considering the fact that the scope for further notable expansion in area under cultivation is limited and the crucial role of irrigation in increasing yields, it is imperative to expand irrigation for any further increase in food production in the country. In this regard, it is important to note that India has only 4% of the world’s water resources and is home for over 17% of the world’s population. Hence, there is an urgent need to devise measures to promote sustainable irrigation practices for efficient and judicious use of irrigation water from both groundwater and surface irrigation sources.
An overview of trends in various sources of irrigation since 1950-51 suggests that the significant increase in irrigated area is primarily on account of rapid growth in tube wells. The area under tube wells increased from about 0.1 million hectares in 1960-61 to 39.1 million hectares in 2022-23. Consequently, the share of area irrigated by tube wells increased from 0.55% in 1960-61 to 49.34% in 2022-23. Apart from tube wells, area under other wells also increased significantly from about 6 million hectares in 150-51 to about 10.6 million hectares in 2022-23.
As a result, the total area irrigated from groundwater sources increased to about 63% in 2022-23 from around 30% in 1950s, while that irrigated by surface water sources like tanks and canals decreased to about 25% from about 57% in respective periods.
Over-exploited ground water resources
Agriculture sector is the largest consumer of groundwater resources, accounting for 87% of the total annual groundwater extraction, which amounts to 209.74 billion cubic meters (BCM) as per the data from Central Ground Water Board (CGWB). Continuous cultivation of water intensive crops like rice and sugar cane supported by free electricity and assured procurement at support prices has led to over-exploitation of groundwater in major producing states.
As a result, the extraction of groundwater surpassed its recharge substantially to the extent of about 165% in Punjab and 134% in Haryana, according to the National Compilation on Dynamic Ground Water Resources of India 2023 by the CGWB, Ministry of Jal Shakti. Further, the report also indicated that about 11.23% of total 6,553 assessment units in the country are categorised as ‘over-exploited’.
On the other hand, the area irrigated from surface water sources has witnessed mixed trends. The area irrigated through canals remained stagnant over a period, while that by tanks has declined over the period.
Total area under canal irrigation increased rather slowly from about 8.3 million hectares in 1950-51 to about 17 million hectares by the early 1990s and remained stagnant with downward fluctuations till 2018-19. Thereafter, canal irrigated area started rising to cross 19 million hectares in 2021-22. Nevertheless, the extent of area irrigated by canals declined from 39.78% in 1950-51 to 22.85% in 2022-23.
However, irrigated area under tanks, though increased from 3.6 million hectares in 1950-51 to 4.7 million hectares in 1964-65, has declined steadily in the subsequent period to reach about 1.5 million hectares in 2009-10. There was an improvement in the 2020s but, only marginally to 2.2 million hectares in 2022-23. The significant fall in area under tanks could be attributed to various reasons including increased unpredictability and deficit in rainfall, lack of maintenance, siltation, encroachment, etc.
Thus, the significant expansion in the area under irrigation during the past six decades or so has been largely from ground water resources. The progress in area under surface water sources was limited due to various reasons including increased unpredictability of monsoons and human intervention or lack of it.
In view of the rapidly depleting ground water resources and growing need for further expansion in irrigated area, there is an urgent need for requisite policy measures for ensuring adequate recharge of groundwater resources, revival and expansion of surface water resources like tanks and canals, promotion of watershed practices, etc., for sustainable use of water resources for irrigation.
Need to promote sustainable irrigation practices
Agriculture being the largest consuming sector of water resources, it is imperative to promote conservation of water with efficient and sustainable irrigation practices such as micro-irrigation. Micro-irrigation practice such as drip irrigation directly applies irrigation water directly to crop root zones thereby reducing losses through runoff, percolation and evaporation occur in tradition irrigation method.
Micro-irrigation has a potential to increase water use efficiency to an extent of about 75-95% compared to the traditional method of irrigation. To promote micro-irrigation and water use efficiency Department of Agriculture & Farmers Welfare implements Per Drop More Crop (PDMC) Scheme that subsequently became part of Pradhan Mantri Krishi Sinchayee Yojana (PMKSY). The scheme provides financial assistance to an extent of about 55% of installation cost for small & marginal farmers and about 45% for other farmers.
So far the PDMC scheme has covered an area of about 89.69 lakh hectare from 2015-16 to 2023-24. In this regard, the extension of PMKSY for 2021-22 to 2025-26 with an outlay of about Rs. 93,068 crore is a step in the right direction. Such efforts need to be strengthened further and implemented effectively.
In addition, it is vital to promote crop diversification at least for shorter intervals of one to three years from water intensive crops like rice and sugarcane to pulses and oilseeds with less water requirement in their cultivation. Despite a significant increase in minimum support prices for pulses and oilseeds during past five years, there is a limited response from farmers to shift from rice to pulses and oilseeds cultivation.
In order to promote such diversification, it is essential to ensure that farmers receive remunerative prices with requisite procurement process in the short-term, while addressing supply chain in efficiencies with the necessary marketing infrastructure and logistics in the long-term. Further, implementation of crop rotation or diversification needs to be staggered across different states so that the domestic supply of staple crops like rice will be adequate.
Coordinated efforts from both Centre and states are essential for the success of such diversification. Subsidies and incentives need to be reoriented accordingly to promote production of other crops like pulses and oilseeds.
A. Amarender Reddy is joint director, policy support research, ICAR-National Institute of Biotic Stress Management (ICAR-NIBSM), Raipur.
Tulsi Lingareddy is a a senior economist, sustainable finance and agriculture. Views personal