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Indian Economic Policy

Notes (iv) New Strategies of Irrigation and Water Management : The total foodgrains production from a
gross area of 163 to 165 million hectares was around 212 million tonnes in 2001-02 (as against
the Ninth Plan target of 234 million tonnes for that year. Our average foodgrains production is
about 1.3 tonne (or 13 quintals) per hectare. As against this, China produces 4 tonnes or 40
quintals of foodgrains per hectare. If India is to meet the needs of its growing population of
over 1,000 million people it must produce 240 to 250 million tonnes of foodgrains per year. This
will necessitate the adoption of new strategies of irrigation.
The total available water reserves is of the order of 100 million hectare metres (mhm) during the
next 12 to 15 years. Since water is a scarce resource, it is vitally necessary that emphasis be
shifted on its more efficient use. As things stand today, 90 per cent of water available is allocated
to irrigation. This is, according to experts, wasteful use of water. It would, therefore, be useful
to develop irrigation strategies which economise water use. The target should be to reduce
water use for irrigation to 77 per cent of total available water in the next 10 to 12 years, so as to
meet the rising demand for water for industrial and municipal needs. The new strategy of
irrigation should be directed towards the following :
(i) control and proper method of irrigation in canal and tank command areas, specifically for
paddy;
(ii) repair and maintain the traditional system of water harvesting and recharge of surface water.
(iii) conjuctive use of surface and ground water;
(iv) using sprinkler irrigation in canal/tank command areas;
(v) introducing drip irrigation in well irrigated areas;
(vi) Biwal irrigation for closely spaced crops like sugarcane, vegetables and cotton; and
(vii) training farmers and extension officers in water management.
In major irrigation projects, there is frequently over-irrigation, with its adverse effects on
production. For instance, famers use 1,500—3,000 of water for paddy, as against the requirement
of only 800 mm. Moreover, absence of proper channels to take water to various fields leads to
water logging and makes the land saline or alkaline.
Use of sprinkler irrigation can bring about 30-35 per cent of saving in water use. This should be
used in all closely spaced crops like millets, groundnuts. pulses and wheat.
Drip irrigation is suitable for row crops and can result in a water saving of 50-70 per cent,
simultaneously raising yield by 60-70 per cent in various crops. It helps in economic use of
water and is specially suitable for irrigation by wells.
Biwall irrigation is being recently experimented in Maharashtra. In this system, water is delivered
from the main chamber with a distribution chamber through evenly spaced supply orifices
provided by lazer beams. It is then slowly released through the emission orifice.
The education of the farmers and the extension workers is vital in this thrust area of water
management. For this, demonstrations, group discussions, seminars of farmers and other mass
media be pressed into service. This is a thrust area which promises much better results with
marginal addition of costs.
During the first eight Five Year Plans, much greater emphasis was laid on major and medium
irrigation works. It is now being increasingly realised that this obsession with major irrigation
works or big projects has raised the irrigation costs per hectare to prohibitive levels (` 60,000
per hectare on an average). Because of its cheapness and quick benefits the new thrust should
be in favour of minor irrigation works.
(v) The use of bio-fertilizers has to be expanded : Recent researches in bio-technology and genetic
engineering have demonstrated that certain micro-organisms such as bacteria and blue green
algae can act as nitrogen fixers and provide nutrient to cropplants. The most commonly used
bio-fertilizer is Rhizobium which colonizes the roots of specific legumes to form root nodules.
These nodules act as factors of ammonia production. The Rhizobiums legume association can
fix 100-300 kg of nitrogen per hectare in one crop season and even leave substantial quantities

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