Times Agricultural Journal

Irrigation is very important for the agricultural sector. India, Sprinkler with its vast diversity in terrain and climatic conditions, makes the implementation of irrigation systems quite a challenging task. Currently, the gross irrigated area in India is 59.3 million hectares out of the gross sown area of 180 million hectares. This, despite the fact that the irrigation facilities created in the country can meet the requirements of 90 million hectares. The under-utilisation of irrigation facilities is only due to improper and inadequate means of supplying water to the fields.

The major sources of irrigation include reservoirs, canals, rivers, tanks, ponds and wells. The most widely used method of irrigation in India is surface irrigation, which is popularly referred to as flood irrigation, in which water is conveyed through open channels. Other methods such as drip and sprinkler irrigation are rarely used, accounting for less than one million hectares of the gross irrigated area.

“The inefficiencies associated with surface irrigation cause a lot of wastage of water and this is a matter of concern,” according to Anil B Jain, managing director, Jain Irrigation Systems. “There is also a growing concern for the detrimental aspects of surface irrigation methods, which result in problems like salinity and water-logging,” says Jain.

Awareness about methods of conserving water and maximising the yield per unit volume of water is growing, as people are shifting from cultivating crops merely to earn a livelihood to those that will yield better and higher commercial gains.

It is advantageous to carry water through pipelines since it can avoid conveyance losses that are incurred while conveying water through canals and field channels. The use of methods like drip and sprinkler systems can improve the efficiency of use as well as the yield. The government is considering the privatisation of irrigation projects.

Jain asserts that the need of the day is to have equal participation between the government and the beneficiary groups for running the existing irrigation systems. “A government-controlled system can also be transferred to the beneficiary group for effective operation and maintenance. The group itself can contribute the necessary funds,” Jain adds.