Q.Explain the sources of irrigation in India.

India draws on a mix of surface and groundwater sources for irrigation, each suited to different terrain and rainfall conditions. …

Canals: Water is drawn from rivers or storage reservoirs and carried through a network of main and distributary channels to the fields; important in the alluvial northern plains and in the command areas of major and medium irrigation projects across the country.

Wells and tube wells: Groundwater drawn up using ordinary wells or, increasingly, mechanically-powered tube wells. This is the largest source of irrigation in India today because it gives the farmer direct, on-demand control over water use, and it expanded rapidly alongside the Green Revolution.

Tanks: Small reservoirs created by building a bund across a stream or by collecting rainwater, historically significant in peninsular India, including large parts of Andhra Pradesh and Telangana; their relative share in total irrigated area has declined as tube-well irrigation has grown. …

Students often state that canals are India's largest source of irrigation — this was historically true but is no longer accurate; wells and tube wells (groundwate …