India’s Irrigation Economy:In the throes of a transition..

Tushaar ShahInternational Water Management Institute

www.iwmi.org

Highlights• History of Indian irrigation: Three Phases and a Turning Point.

• Since 1975, Indian agriculture has emerged as the world’s largest user of groundwater to grow food and fibre.

• The groundwater boom is fired by population pressure on land and demands of intensive diversification of farming.

• India and Pakistan together lost over 5 million ha of canal irrigated areas; tubewells are canibalizing flow irrigation.

• Investing in flow irrigation under BAU is throwing good money after bad.

• India’s irrigation challenge is one of managing its sub-continental aquifer systems, a vast reservoir we have left unmanaged.

Evolution of Indian Irrigation:Era of adaptive irrigation-upto 1830

• Community was the unit of irrigation management

Rainfall and Soil moisture

Flow irrigation from tanks, canals, rivers

Lift irrigation from wells and surface sources

% of water consumptively used in agriculture

% Contribution to aggregateFarm output and incomes

Evolution of Indian Irrigation:Era of canal construction-1830-1970

• State emerged as the architect, builder, manager of irrigation

Soil moisture management

Flow irrigation from tanks, canals, rivers

Lift irrigation from wells & surface sources

% water consumptively used in agriculture

% Contribution to aggregateFarm output and incomes

Evolution of Indian Irrigation:Era of atomistic pump irrigation-1970-todate

Individual farmer as the irrigation manager

Soil moisture management

Flow irrigation

Pump irrigation from wells, tubewells, canals

% of water consumptively used in agriculture

% ContributionTo Farm output & incomes

India is the world’s largest userof groundwater in agriculture in the world.

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1940 1950 1960 1970 1980 1990 2000 2010

cubi

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US W.Europe SpainMexico China IndiaPakistan Bangladesh Sri LankaVietnam Ghana South AfricaTunisia

India has over 20 million irrigation wells. We add 0.8 million/year.

Every fourth cultivator owns an irrigation well; non-owners depend on groundwater markets.

Kharif Rabi

pump flow pump flow

cereals 64.3 36.1 77.8 22.2

pulses 68.6 31.4 66.3 33.7

oilseeds 78.8 21.2 72.7 27.3

mixed crops 90.9 9.1 67.7 32.3

sugarcane 81.9 18.1 86 14

other crops 65.5 34.5 82.8 17.2

vegetables 67.4 32.6 74.9 26.1

fruit and nuts 81.9 18.1 83.9 16.1

plantation 72.7 27.3 72.9 27.1

fibre crops70.4 70.4 29.6 86.5 13.5

fodder 79.7 20.3 86.9 13.1

other crops 84.7 15.3 59.2 41.8

all 69 31 76.5 23.5

National Sample Survey, 2003, 59th round:Proportion of area under different irrigated crops Served by pump and flow irrigation

Groundwater share in irrigatedAreas 70% and rising

Govt. numbersSuggest 60%

Irrigated areasDepend on GW,

But…

Pace of Growth of tubewells: IWMI Survey of 2002

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2.00

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upto

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2001%

of pre

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ells b

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during the

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Region Total Western IGB

Eastern IGB Central & Southern India

Pump irrigation expansion is driven by population pressure on farm lands..

60% of tubewells in useWere made during the1990’s; numbers are Still accelerating..

Throughout the world, intensive groundwater irrigation is a response to water scarcity.

Not in South Asia.

Here, it is a response to scarcity of farm lands.

The rise of a ‘water-scavenging’ irrigation economy..

Chhatis Garh and Jharkhand 4.6

Goa 4.7Uttarachal hill districts

0.7

Assam 4.5Himachal 2.8J& K 2.4

Kerala 4.7

40.4

31.2

46.6

34.9

28.9

26.4

18.7 12.7

Six North-eastern states excl. Assam 2.1

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Groups of districts

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/10

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Lift irrigated area as% of net sown area

Minor Irrigation Census 2001:Districts with high rural population density

experience intensive well irrigation

Figure Changing structure of Indian agricultural production

65 66 62 5746

21 2121

2128

11 10 1316 19

4 3 4 6 7

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10%

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100%

1961-62 1971-72 1981-82 1991-92 2000-01

% o

f valu

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t

Field crops, sugar, fibres High value crops Milk Other livestock

Canal and tank irrigated areas condemned to low-value crops unresponsive to precision irrigation.

Much diversification isOccurring outside Command areas (IFPRI).

Much diversification Requires small dozes ofYear-round, on-demandIrrigation.

Value added farming Will expand withWaste-water irrigation andGroundwater.

Our irrigation planning is preoccupied with food grains; Indian farmer is diversifying in a hurry.

Area irrigated by public canals are stagnant despite growing investment in public irrigation.

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1940 1950 1960 1970 1980 1990 2000 2010

Ind

ian

Rs,

bill

ion

, 199

6/7

pri

ces

Net Irrigated area by public irrigation systems

Public investment in 1996-67 rupees in Major and Medium irrigation

Pump irrigation is cannibalizing flow irrigation.

Irrigation systems are unable toSupport groundwater irrigation

This process has gatheredMomentum since 1995

Throughout South Asia, surface irrigation is givingWay to pump irrigation. India, Pakistan and B’deshLost 5.5 m ha of surface irrigation during 1994-2001

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20

30

40

M ha

Changing mode of irrigation water delivery in South Asia

India(states covered by MIcensus of 1994 and 2001;Pakistan (Punjab and Sind);Bangladesh

22.7 17.2 28.4 35.8

1993/4 2000/1 1993/4 2000/1

Public flow irrigation Private pump irrigation

Mismatch between ground and surface irrigation in India: 578 districts covered by Minor Irrigation Cesus 2001 (GoI 2005)

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0.0 10.0 20.0 30.0 40.0 50.0 60.0 70.0 80.0 90.0 100.0

% of Net Sown Area under groundwater irrigation

% o

f N

et S

ow

n A

rea

un

der

su

rfac

e ir

rig

atio

n Line of hydrologic equilibrium

For sustainable irrigation, conjunctive managementof ground and surface water is essential.

Effective conjunctive managementMeans more well irrigation in commandAreas.

In Indian districts, the situation is the opposite.

Only 12% of India’s wells are In command areas; and thisProportion is dropping every year

Implications: 1Wake up to new realities.

• Recognize and respond to the new reality. Government’s role as irrigation provider is no longer the most critical.

• Investing in surface irrigation is throwing good money after bad..

• Irrigation reforms around PIM are doomed to failure because flow irrigation itself is ebbing..

• Irrigation Department’s mission statement needs to be rewritten.

Implications: 2Groundwater recharge is

the game we must master.

Surface water dams deliver 150 km3/year; aquifer system delivers 220 km3/year which is far more

productive.

Managing the sub-continental system of aquifers ought to be India’s top priority; but this is nobody’s concern.

India gets 4000 km3 of precipitation; we use220 km3 of groundwater. Nature itself puts 4-10% of rainfall

into aquifers. If we focus recharge effort at the right places, sustaining groundwater irrigation is possible.

The challenge is to increase recharge in arid areas (north-west)

and hardrock aquifers (peninsular India).

Implications :3Reinvent surface irrigation management.

We need new institutional models to arrest erosion of public irrigation commands.

What Indian farmer demands is on-farm water he can scavenge at will for high frequency precision-irrigation;

wells will always score on canals and tanks.

Rajasthan’s program of lined farm ponds on Indira Gandhi Nahar Yojana: canal water fill up the pond every 21 days;

farmer run sprinklers with it.

Gujarat government’s new scheme to create local irrigation entrepreneurs who will lay drip-irrigation infrastructure and

operate an irrigation service from public canals.

Maharashtra’s experiments in Northern Krishna basin.

Implications: 4high crop/drop

• Accelerate agricultural diversification

• Embrace and propagate water saving farming systems: aerobic rice, System of Rice

Intensification,Zero-tillage, alternate wet-and-dry irrigation.

Reform micro-irrigation subsidies that shrink drip-and-sprinkler equipment market instead of

expanding it.

Implications: 5Practical strategy for groundwater management

• Evolve a practical, implementable tool-kit for groundwater management.

• Groundwater laws are unenforceable; pricing is impractial; GW Authority’s writ does not run in the country-side.

• Indirect instruments:

• Punjab’s experiment with electricity supply and rice procurement schedules to shift rice transplanting.

• Gujarat’s Jyotirgram Yojana of rationing quality power to farmers for irrigation;

Source: “Down to Earth”