IRRIGATION IN INDIA

Rajat Mishra
Asst. Professor
Civil Engineering Department
 TOPICS COVERED
Importance of the irrigation & brief history
Method of irrigation in practice in India

• Detailed overview of all types of irrigation

• Problems & available solutions
• River linking
• Sum up of discussions
 Agriculture and Irrigation
• Agriculture sustains the life and the
irrigation sustains the agriculture.
• Dependable Irrigation is essential for self
reliance in food production.
• All species of animals depend on plants
for food even carnivores.
• According to old religious texts, the
responsibility of providing irrigation lies
with King.
 History of Irrigation in India
• BRIHASPATI samhita described
construction of water bodies as pious
work.
• Indus valley and all other civilizations were
developed near rivers.
• Cholas constructed grand anicut to
provide irrigation water from river Cauvery
in second century.
Ancient irrigation channel
ANICUTS OF SOUTH INDIA
 Contd..
• British rulers centralized the irrigation and
started building canals, dams and weirs as land
revenue from farmers was one of the income
source.
• The command area based irrigation resulted in
prosperity of areas near to canals etc.
• This resulted in division of entire agriculture land
of India into two i.e. rain fed & irrigated.
• Green revolution further widened the gap.
 Contd…
• Population pressure and land reforms
resulted in small land holdings .
• Intensive cultivation was one of the
component of green revolution.
• Technology in form of tube well or pump
irrigation resulted in de centralization of
the sector as the farmers were master of
the water unlike the canals.
 Contd..

• Tube well irrigation resulted in new set of

problems.
• We have to find ways to increase food
production, conserve environment and
bring prosperity to rural masses.
• Irrigation will continue to be priority of
every government till we depend on food
for living.
TRADITIONAL IRRIGATION
METHODS
TRADITIONAL IRRIGATION
METHODS
 CANAL IRRIGATION
• The present canal system was developed
in India by British rulers.
• The canals are man made channels which
carry the water diverted from rivers.
• The water stored in dams, barrage etc is
diverted with the help of mechanical gates.
• This water is distributed with minors &
distributaries.
CANALS
BHAKRA DAM ON RIVER SATLUJ
VIEW OF DIVERSION
STRUCTURE
 ADVANTAGES
• Quality of the canal water is best for
irrigation and drinking.
• This water has TRANSFORMED
agriculture economy of some parts of
India.
• Indira Gandhi canal in Rajasthan is life line
of millions.
• Low operation cost is a distinct advantage.
 ADVANTAGES (contd..)
• The diversion structures can also be used
for generating electricity.
• They produce clean pollution free power.
• The canals were also used for navigation
& transportation of wood during British
rule.
• Canals are also providing drinking water to
ever increasing urban population.
 LINED CANAL AND
DISTRIBUTION SYSTEM
 FALLS FOR MICRO
HYDROELECTRIC PLANTS
 Tube well Irrigation
• The tube well irrigation means extracting ground
water by mechanical means.
• Earlier ground water was extracted through
traditional ways like Dug well, Rahats & Dhenkli
etc.
• Tube well irrigation brought revolution in state
controlled irrigation sector.
• Growth is not confined to rural areas.
• Entire south Asia is using this method in form or
other.
• Tube irrigation has been developed for all types
of soils and strata.
 CONTD…
• Even hard rock areas have deep tube
wells.
• GOI data shows that 60% of irrigated
areas are covered by tube wells, the
remote sensing data shows 75%
coverage.
• India has more than 20 million pumps.
 Benefits to the Farmer
• Low investment and gestation period.
• Self control and ownership.
• High irrigation efficiency and draught
proofing for at least 1-2 monsoon seasons.
• Easy availability of technology and
finance.
• Priority of all successive governments.
Tube well irrigation
 WAYS TO SUSTAIN GROUND
WATER BOOM
• RAIN WATER HARVESTING & GROUND
WATER RECHARGE.
• Traditional water harvesting structures like
Baolis, Kunds, Taals, water temples, Johads etc.
were built by various kings and local people.
• Phad system of irrigation is still prevalent in
some parts of Maharastra.
• Low cost technology is available for water
harvesting and recharge.
• Even if 5% water is recharged ,it will make a big
addition to the ground water resources.
Traditional
Baolis
TRADITIONAL JOHADS
STEP WELLS
 TANK IRRIGATION
• Community owned and maintained tanks
were very popular in India.
• During British rule and even after
independence, the community
participation declined & irrigation was
centralized.
• The tanks are not only used for irrigation
purpose but the ground water is also
recharged by tanks.
IRRIGATION TANKS
 Contd..
• There is urgent need for rehabilitation of
tanks specially in South India with
community participation.
• This will also reduce dependence on tube
wells.
• The community participation will ensure
that the tanks are not misused or polluted.
 Micro Irrigation
• Micro irrigation methods involve high initial
cost ,however they save precious water
and pay back in form of saved water,
power and increased productivity.
• The use of plastic has reduced the cost of
micro irrigation.
• Two popular methods are Drip and
Sprinkler irrigation.
Micro irrigation methods
 Drip Irrigation
• Main aim is to supply water directly to the root
system.
• The system consists of net work of pipes
designed to reach at root system of plants.
• The drip system is always farm specific ,which is
designed after considering cropping pattern, soil
type, water quality and climate of area.
• The cost components include cost of pipes,
pumps, overhead tanks etc.
 CONTD..
• It saves water, labour and fertilizer costs.
• It also prevents water logging in fields.
• This system is very useful for vegetable
and fruit crops.
• The various state governments are
offering subsidy for establishment of drip
units.
• The popularity of drip irrigation will result in
decrease in cost.
Drip irrigation plan
Demonstration of drip irrigation
Drip without use of power
 Sprinkler Irrigation
• The sprinklers create a situation of artificial
rains.
• Net work of sprinkler is connected through
pipes and water is supplied under
pressure.
• Irrigation efficiency is much higher as
compared to flood irrigation.
• This system is suitable for all types of
crops unlike drip irrigation.
 CONTD…
• Portable sprinklers have been developed
with flexible pipes to reduce the costs.
• Micro irrigation is getting popular day by
day.
• It is highly beneficial for hi-tech agriculture.
• The micro irrigation systems increase the
yield of crops by 30-70%.
• The micro irrigation can change the entire
irrigation sector if popularized .
Sprinkler irrigation scheme
Sprinkler components
Sprinkler irrigation
 Lift Irrigation
• Lift irrigation units are popular in the areas
where the water streams are at low level
and the farms are at high level.
• The units are generally state owned and
user charges are collected from farmers.
• Some farmers having huge land holdings
have established lift irrigation units.
• It involves construction of a sump well for
collecting water from natural streams.
 CONTD..
• The water is pumped to higher
elevation ,where it is stored in pucca tanks
for further distribution.
• High initial cost is making it unpopular.
• However it can bring lot of agriculture land
in hilly areas to productive use.
• Wind pumps and micro hydro electric units
can enhance the viability of investment.
Lift irrigation
 Dug wells
• The dug wells are oldest form of ground water
extraction structures.
• Animal and muscle power were used by our
forefathers to extract water from wells.
• The Rahat /Persian wheel is environment
friendly method to get water from wells.
• Now a days pump sets are used for getting
water from wells.
• There is need to preserve and repair existing
wells to showcase the old technology.
Dug wells
 RIVER LINKING –A LONG TERM
SOLUTION... ???
• There is large variation in temperature,
rainfall and soil types etc.
• Every year there are floods in part of
country and fraught in other part.
• Several groups of scientists, farmers and
agriculture economists have advocated
linking of the rivers .
• India has several agro climatic zones.
 Contd…
• The advocates of river linking project
about 10% growth rate in GDP due to high
growth in agriculture sector.
• The estimated cost of river linking will be
Rs.6,00,000 crores at price level of 2003.
• The size of project is nowhere near to the
any of the project executed in INDIA.
 Issues before us
• Constitutional issues like sharing of water,
between the states, transfer of water, from
one basin other, role of state
governments.
• Financial issues like sources of huge
funds required for implementation of
project. share of states and central
government.
 Contd…
• Economic aspects like evaluation of such
a complex project and the non monetary
aspects .
• Environmental issues like displacement of
crores of people, loss of forests and bio
diversity, safety of dams and natural
disasters.
• This issue is still in thinking process and
we may wait till some concrete decision
are made.
 Sum up
• Instead of investing more on new canals
the maintenance and proper management
of existing system is needed.
• People’s involvement in management and
distribution of water may be first priority of
policy makers.
• Management of ground water resources
should be on top priority to save water and
power.
 CONTD…
• Rain fed areas may be brought under
irrigation by possible methods and
changing agronomic practices.
• The research and development for
reducing cost of micro irrigation and
pumping must be on our priority list.
• We must remember that the agriculture
sustains life and irrigation sustains
agriculture.
THANK
YOU