At a time when the country is reeling under the impact of delayed onset of the southwest monsoon over most parts, the importance of irrigation and the difference it could make to productivity during times of inadequate rains is vastly underlined.
In India, around 57% of the net cultivated area still depends on monsoon showers, making June-September showers absolutely imperative for sound agricultural output.
As per government records, rain-fed agricultural land was around 84.2 million hectares in 2003-04. It declined to around 79.84 million hectares by 2006-07.
Experts believe that rainfall being around 27% deficient till now since its start on June 1, the need for improving the irrigation network in the country should get much more attention.
A case in point is paddy sowing. This year till July 17, this key foodgrain grown during the kharif sowing season has been planted in around 114.63 lakh hectares, almost 31 lakh hectares less than same period last year. The worst hit has been states like Jharkhand, where sowing is around 43% less till July 17 compared to the same period last year.
In Uttar Pradesh, sowing is less by 33.14%, in West Bengal–the country’s largest paddy producer–it is down by 35%. Traditionally, these states have low irrigation coverage than the main grain growing provinces of Punjab and Haryana. Although, southwest monsoon from June 1 to July 15 is almost 50% less in these two states this year as compared to the last year, paddy acreage is just around 8% and 5% less, respectively, till the middle of July compared to the year-ago period, largely because almost 80% of the agricultural land here is under irrigation.
Among other paddy growing states, sowing is almost 36% less in Maharashtra till July 17, 30% less in Bihar, 27% less in Andhra Pradesh and almost 35% less in Rajasthan.
The government, in a recent statement in Parliament, said that per hectare yield of major agricultural crops showed an appreciable increase when planted in an irrigated area compared to rainfed areas. Per hectare yield of paddy in irrigated areas is around 1,880kg,while that in non-irrigated areas is significantly lower at around 1,220 kg.
Per hectare yield of maize, another major crop grown during the kharif sowing season, has been estimated to be around 2040 kilograms in irrigated areas, while it is just around 1339.2 kilograms in rainfed areas. Per hectare yield of oilseeds, which relatively require less water than paddy and wheat, shows a significant rise when watered.
Groundnut’s per hectare yield rises to almost 1,244.2 kgs in irrigated land as against 845 kgs in non-irrigated areas. Similarly, rapeseed crop planted in a well-irrigated land gives a yield of around 894 kg per hectare as against 573 kg in non-irrigated land.
?Much of the concern over impact of low monsoon on agricultural land would not have been there if around 80% of the area under agriculture would have been irrigated,” a leading farm scientist said.