Premium
Reforms in the irrigation sector of India
Author(s) -
Vohra K.,
Franklin M.L.
Publication year - 2021
Publication title -
irrigation and drainage
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.421
H-Index - 38
eISSN - 1531-0361
pISSN - 1531-0353
DOI - 10.1002/ird.2500
Subject(s) - irrigation , agriculture , productivity , agricultural economics , business , irrigation management , water conservation , agricultural productivity , hectare , natural resource economics , distribution (mathematics) , government (linguistics) , water resource management , geography , environmental science , economics , economic growth , ecology , mathematics , mathematical analysis , linguistics , philosophy , archaeology , biology
Abstract India has taken up an ambitious goal to double the average income of agricultural households from 2015 to 2022. This mammoth task requiring a sharp accelerated annual growth of over 10% would have to harness all possible sources of growth within as well as outside the agricultural sector and will need strong inclusive measures in the irrigation sector such as water productivity, participatory irrigation management, water conservation, agricultural productivity, etc. Improper water management at the farm level leads to inefficient use of water and inequitable distribution with the tail‐end farmer often not getting water. Though an irrigation potential of 112 Mha (million hectares) has been created against an ultimate potential of 140 Mha, the utilization is only 93 Mha. Moreover, efficiency of water use in irrigation in India is about 30% to 40%. Emphasis now has to shift to resourceful management of water to meet the food grain demand of 450 million tonnes (MT) by 2050 against the present food grain production of 278 MT. This paper highlights the various steps taken by the Government of India, various state governments, non‐governmental organizations, etc. in reforming the irrigation sector of the country.