Influencing irrigation

A Success Story

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policy in India

Irrigation has

been crucial

to Indian

agriculture

for millennia

Photo: Sharni Jayawardena

but…

Irrigation has

been crucial

to Indian

agriculture

for millennia

Photo: Sharni Jayawardena

...in the past 40 years, Indian irrigation has faced unprecedented challenges

Photo: Sharni Jayawardena

Photo: Sharni JayawardenaPhoto: Sharni Jayawardena

A new trend...

Infrastructure and management

of large-scale irrigation schemes

have deteriorated

Farmers are growing a wider

range of crops than the old

staples of rice and wheatPhoto: Sanjini De Silva

Photo: Sanjini De Silva

Now, millions of farmers are

pumping groundwater

when and where they choose

In need of more flexible irrigation,

Indian farmers are taking water supply

into their own hands

Photo: IWMI

Supplies are shrinking fast

Groundwater is now the main water source for most of India’s farming areas outside large canal commands

Growth in groundwater use in selected countries

Cu

bic

km

/yea

r

1940 1950 1960 1970 1980 1990 2000 20100

50

100

150

200

250

300 IndiaUSChinaBangladeshPakistanMexicoTunisiaW.EuropeSri LankaVietnamSouth AfricaSpainGhana

Source: Shah, T. (2009). Taming the Anarchy: Groundwater Governance in South Asia. Washington D.C.: RFF press.

India

Research into action

The IWMI-Tata Water Policy Program began in 2000

Photo: Sharni Jayawardena

The mission: face the new realities of groundwater use and revitalize irrigation

Photo: Sharni Jayawardena

The question: how can India integrate centrally managed irrigation systems with the new trend for intensive groundwater use?

Photo: IWMI

The work of IWMI and its partners spans the globe

Their research allows IWMI to contribute to the work of Indian practitioners and policymakers

As a result, groundwater use – which supports more than 80% of India’s irrigated agriculture – has become central to the irrigation debate

Photo: Sharni Jayawardena

The response

US$400 million from the

Indian Government…

...for well recharge

projects in 100 districts

in 7 states where water

stored in hard-rock

aquifers had been

overexploited

The money will fund 7 million structures to divert monsoonal runoff and help farmers purchase equipment

The diversion structures include desiltation chambers and pipes to collect surplus rainwater

Photo: Sanjini De Silva

Tamil Nadu, Maharashtra and Gujarat are already using the fund to implement groundwater recharge programs

Photo: Sharni Jayawardena

A leading light

IWMI worked with Indian policymakers on large projects in the Indus-Gangetic and Yellow River basins:

Ground Governance in Asia

Basin Focal Project for the Indus-Gangetic Basin

Drip Irrigation, Capacity Building and Management Initiative for Maximizing Productivity and Income (TNDRiP Initiative)

Photo: IRRI

While considering the physical, socioeconomic,

governance and policy perspectives of

groundwater...

...these projects asked:

how can Indian

agriculture use

groundwater in a

productive and

sustainable way? Photo: Arindam Mukherji

Research is helping policymakers to develop

effective groundwater management policies,

such as the Punjab Preservation of Sub-Soil

Water Act 2009…

...which has helped

cut groundwater use

by 7% annually

Photo: IRRI

How does the Act save water in Punjab? 

Simply by having farmers delay paddy

transplanting until after the 10th of June

Waiting until

then avoids the

extremely high

evaporation of

early summer Photo: IRRI

2,180 million cubic meters of water

 This is what IWMI estimates can be saved through this one policy – almost 1 million Olympic swimming pools

As well as saving 175 million kilowatt-hours of energy used for pumping – equivalent to more than 100,000 barrels of oil

Photo: Ian Burt

What next?

The Planning Commission of India has

invited IWMI scientists to write a paper on

the future of government irrigation projects,

as well as chair a working group that will

design strategies for large irrigation systems

in India’s 12th Five-Year Plan

IWMI will also examine

how to rationalize the

Accelerated Irrigation

Benefits Program – the

vehicle through which

the central government

provides funds to

states for irrigation

development

Photo: IRRI

The IWMI-Tata Water Policy Program is supported by the Sir Ratan Tata Trust.

CollaboratorsIndian Council of Agricultural Research

State irrigation departments

Agricultural universities

Non-governmental organizations

For more information

IWMI reportGroundwater Governance in the Indo-Gangetic and

Yellow River Basins: Realities and Challenges

http://tinyurl.com/2f2zvk3

All IWMI publications are available online

free of charge at www.iwmi.org/Publications

Improving the management of land and water resources for food, livelihoods and the environment