Context: The recent suicide of a Young Farmer Award recipient from Maharashtra highlights the contentious issue of irrigation in India. It points towards the inequity in water distribution, social inequalities and issues in water governance.
Relevance of the Topic: Mains: Agriculture: Irrigation Challenges in India.
State of Irrigation in India
- Agriculture accounts for almost 80% of the water withdrawal in India. Annually, 688 billion cubic metres of water is consumed by the farm sector.
- Irrigation is an inevitable input for increasing agricultural production, however, access to water for irrigation remains a contentious issue.
Irrigation Challenges in India:
- Poor Irrigation coverage: 52% of net sown area is still completely dependent on rainfall. Over-reliance on traditional sources like wells, tube wells, canals for flood irrigation.
- Uneven rainfall: Irrigation is impacted by substantial spatial and temporal rainfall variation, exacerbated by climate change.
- Outdated off-farm and on-farm infrastructure and poor maintenance reduce irrigation efficiency. E.g., Unlined canals and channels.
- Lack of adoption of smart irrigation solutions like micro-irrigation, drip agriculture. E.g., Total area covered under micro-irrigation is 10.3 mha against potential of 69.5 mha.
- Aggressive groundwater extraction for irrigation- Due to over extraction, almost 17% of India’s groundwater assessment units are deemed ‘over-exploited’ while 3.9% are in a ‘critical’ state. Intensive pumping has resulted in massive energy consumption resulting in excessive carbon emissions.
- Misaligned cropping patterns: Rampant cultivation of water-intensive crops (sugarcane, paddy, cotton) across water-stressed regions exhausts groundwater, thus requiring irrigation solutions. E.g., Sugarcane cultivation in water-stressed Maharashtra.
- Loose regulation: The Easement Act, 1882, provides every landowner with the right to collect and dispose of all water under the land/over surface, i.e., the owner can dig wells and extract water based on his discretion. Additionally, landowners are not legally liable for any damage caused to water resources because of over-extraction.
- Gap between potential created and utilised: Despite heavy public expenditure on canals, governments have not been able to reduce groundwater depletion. E.g., Irrigation Potential Utilised (IPU) is 80 million hectares against Irrigation Potential Created (IPC) of 109 mha presently.
- Inordinate delay in completion of irrigation projects due to delayed tendering, contract management, land acquisition etc. The operating efficiency and water use efficiency has also remained sub-optimal in Indian agriculture. While irrigation systems in India report an operating efficiency of 38%, in developed countries it is 55%.
Marginalised groups, especially women, are disproportionately affected by increasing deprivation and decline of water tables with climate change intensifying disparities.
Way Forward
- Enhancing water efficiency:
- In irrigated areas by reducing the difference between IPC and IPU through proper maintenance of canals and rationalisation of water tariffs/power subsidies.
- In rain-fed areas by rainwater harvesting, creating check dams, convergence between MGNREGA and water conservation, desilting ponds and water bodies.
- Adoption of Model Bill to control and regulate extraction of groundwater, setting up of Groundwater Regulating Authority, compulsory registration of borewell-owners etc.
- Policy-led shift in cropping patterns towards crops suiting regional agro-climatic conditions, less water-intensive crops and crop-diversification.
- Participatory irrigation management involving farmers in planning, design, development, and management of water resources schemes and capacity building.
- Promotion of micro-irrigation techniques like drip and sprinkler irrigation.
- Alternative water management technologies such as alternate wetting and drying, which can result in significant water saving and reduced emissions, may be popularised.
It is imperative for India to redesign its irrigation policy to ensure irrigation efficiency and rationalise the use of its limited water resources. This is pertinent to ensure food security to the growing population amidst climate change.
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