Indian Agricultural: Growth, Generation, Policy & Problem Indian Agricultural | Page 38

Pg.no. 37
peninsula, and landmarks are named after him in Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu. However, much
of the added irrigation capacity during the colonial era was provided by groundwater wells and tanks,
operated manually.
Irrigation trends since 1947
India's irrigation covered crop area was about 22.6 million hectares in 1951, and it increased to a
potential of 90 mha at the end of 1995, inclusive of canals and groundwater wells. However, the
potential irrigation relies of reliable supply of electricity for water pumps and maintenance, and the net
irrigated land has been considerably short. According to 2001/2002 Agriculture census, only 58.1
million hectares of land was actually irrigated in India. The total arable land in India is 160 million
hectares (395 million acres). According to the World Bank, only about 35% of total agricultural land in
India was reliably irrigated in 2010.
The ultimate sustainable irrigation potential of India has been estimated in a 1991 United Nations'
FAO report to be 139.5 million hectares, comprising 58.5 mha from major and medium river-fed
irrigation canal schemes, 15 mha from minor irrigation canal schemes, and 66 mha from groundwater
well fed irrigation.
India's irrigation is mostly groundwater well based. At 39 million hectares (67% of its total irrigation),
India has the world's largest groundwater well equipped irrigation system (China with 19 mha is
second, USA with 17 mha is third).
India has spent ₹ 16,590 crore on irrigation development between 1950 and 1985. Between 2000-
2005 and 2005-2010, India proposed to invest a sum of ₹ 1,03,315 crore and 2,10,326 crores on
irrigation and flood control in India.
state wise irrigation types, capacity and actual
Ramesh Kumar P