Economics · Ch 8 — Agriculture Sector
Irrigation in Indian Agriculture
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Irrigation in Indian Agriculture
Irrigation is the artificial application of water to agricultural land, and it plays a central role in Indian agriculture because a large share of the country's net sown area still depends on the monsoon. Assured irrigation reduces the risk from erratic or inadequate rainfall, allows farmers to grow more than one crop a year on the same land (multiple cropping), and is a precondition for adopting HYV seeds and other Green Revolution technology.
Sources of irrigation in India
| Source | Description |
|---|---|
| Canals | Water carried from rivers or reservoirs through a network of channels; the largest source of irrigation by area in many regions, e.g. the Indira Gandhi Canal in Rajasthan and the Narmada (Sardar Sarovar) canal network in Gujarat |
| Wells and tube-wells | Groundwater lifted by ordinary wells or by mechanically powered tube-wells; widely used across the Indo-Gangetic plain and increasingly in Gujarat and other states |
| Tanks | Small reservoirs formed by constructing a bund across a stream, common in the peninsular plateau region |
| Other sources | Lift irrigation from rivers/canals, and increasingly, micro-irrigation methods such as drip and sprinkler irrigation |