By Avinash Chandani, Partner, Deloitte India
Status of irrigation in India
India has 140 million hectares of net sown area, of which 55 per cent is irrigated and the remaining is rainfed. Currently, 55 per cent of the net irrigated area is being served by wells and tube wells, 20 per cent by canals, around 19 per cent through micro-irrigation and 5 per cent through other sources. While the net sown area mostly remained stagnant, the share of the irrigated area in the net sown area increased by 10 per cent in the past decade.
Increasing stress on resources
India accounts for around 18 per cent of the world’s population but holds about 4 per cent of the world’s agricultural land and freshwater resources. With increasing population, low agricultural productivity and erratic climate changes, there is a need for intensification of agriculture to ensure India’s food security.
Over the past two decades, intensification efforts have significantly increased India’s agricultural output, with more than 50 per cent growth in cereal production and a doubling of production for pulses, oilseeds, fruits, vegetables and fibre crops. However, groundwater levels have been severely hit, as agriculture accounts for 90 per cent of the groundwater used for irrigation. India’s groundwater development is at around 60 per cent and its average per capita water availability is expected to reduce to 1,367 cubic metres by 2031, significantly below the 1,700 cubic metres threshold for water-stressed conditions. Hence, appropriate actions must be taken to make irrigation more efficient to ensure water and food security in the future.
Need for micro-irrigation
Canals, a common source of irrigation, are fed by rivers and reservoirs and are subject to spatial and temporal variations in rainfall. Water is lost due to seepage, which is frequently caused by weak and low quality canal infrastructure, as well as during conveyance and on-farm application, lowering the efficiency to 30-35 per cent. Meanwhile, wells and tube wells provide a more reliable and convenient source of irrigation for small and marginal landholdings. However, they also lead to water loss during conveyance, serve limited areas and rapidly deplete groundwater levels due to their unregulated overuse.
Micro-irrigation techniques, such as drip, sprinklers and bubbler systems, significantly reduce water loss during conveyance and due to evaporation, resulting in 20-50 per cent water savings. They are two to three times more efficient than surface irrigation techniques. They reduce energy and fertiliser consumption, resulting in cost savings and an increase in income for farmers. Countries such as the US, Brazil, France, the UK and Canada have already switched to micro-irrigation, with over 50 per cent of their irrigated area being covered by micro-irrigation systems. In India, this stands at 19 per cent, indicating significant potential for growth.
Government initiatives
The government has taken multiple steps to improve irrigation in India. It has identified 16 national-level irrigation projects and introduced the Pradhan Mantri Krishi Sinchayee Yojana, an umbrella scheme to boost irrigation. The scheme subsumes existing support elements for major, medium and minor irrigation, with a renewed focus on micro-irrigation. The “per drop more crop” component focuses on promoting micro and precision irrigation technologies by developing infrastructure, providing financial assistance, capacity building and extension services. Approximately 8.3 million hectares have been brought under micro-irrigation between 2015-16 and 2023-24 under this scheme. States such as Karnataka, Rajasthan, Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh, Gujarat, Tamil Nadu, Haryana, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Telangana, Uttar Pradesh, Odisha, Bihar and West Bengal account for 99 per cent of India’s 14.5 million hectares under micro-irrigation.
Measures for improving efficiency
The following measures can further aid in improving the efficiency of irrigation in the country:
Holistic approach to micro-irrigation
The development and maintenance of last-mile delivery infrastructure through canals and surface irrigation projects is essential to providing micro-irrigation systems with access to surface water and avoiding reliance on groundwater. Ensuring an uninterrupted electricity supply to run these systems while striking a balance to simultaneously discourage the use of tube wells is imperative. A provision for timely and affordable maintenance of micro-irrigation systems is also essential for farmers to solve technical issues in complex systems and replace expensive spare parts. Farmer producer organisations (FPOs) and community-based organisations can play a key role in educating farmers about micro-irrigation and its benefits and encouraging them to adopt sustainable water-saving practices.
Technology integration
Smart and precise irrigation technologies can improve irrigation efficiency. Farms can be monitored through remote sensing, satellite imagery and internet of things sensors, and data on soil, weather and crop health can be combined to accurately predict water and nutrient stress as well as prescribe corrective measures. Smart machinery, smart pumps, drones, etc., can then automate irrigation and fertigation to take timely actions based on insights. These solutions can work in a standalone manner or can be integrated with traditional systems and equipment to boost productivity. Technology can enable the integration of India’s water resources on a single platform to monitor their capacity and utilisation, and support quick decision-making.
Public-private partnerships
The development of farmer, crop and land registries under Agri Stack in states is a welcome move that will support the development and refinement of technology solutions by ensuring data availability. The government and the private sector can collaborate to strengthen this technology infrastructure and formulate policy incentives for farmers, FPOs and private players to promote new technologies, make them affordable and increase their adoption.
Micro-irrigation in India has the potential to benefit 125 million small and marginal landholdings. A right, enabling ecosystem comprising supportive infrastructure and policy incentives, along with technology integration and public-private partnerships, can help the country unleash its full potential.
Views expressed are personal