Irrigation

Featured Articles
August 10, 2022
Taming water - Irrigation and drought protection in colonial India and the present
The irrigation at all costs mindset and narrow policies for drought protection during the colonial rule ignored rainfed agriculture and local practices that sustained agriculture in the Bombay Deccan. This continues even today.
Recurrent droughts and the struggle for survival (Image Source: Gaurav Bhosale via Wikimedia Commons):
August 9, 2022
MGNREGS becoming the quintessential scheme for tribal agriculture
Ensuring irrigation through farm ponds in tribal Chhattisgarh
Many tribal farmers opted for individual farm ponds under MGNREGA ensuring protective irrigation. (Image: Meenakshi Singh)
April 8, 2022
Water for all, still a dream?
Lack of governance and six toothless irrigation acts have done very little to change the water situation on the ground in Maharashtra, argues water expert Pradeep Purandare.
Peanut irrigation in India (Image Source: Seratobikiba via Wikimedia Commons)
March 11, 2022
Making every drop count: Micro-irrigation for tribal farmers of Gujarat
Subsidies enable tribal farmers to adopt micro-irrigation systems providing them assured irrigation
A key mitigation strategy to deal with water scarcity due to climate change is on-farm management of water using techniques like micro-irrigation (Image: India Water Portal Flickr)
September 17, 2021
Villagers’ shramdaan revives canal, enhances area under cultivation
Benefits of well-managed commons on livelihoods
Collective efforts revived the canal structure of Bichhiya dam bringing water to the village (Image: Foundation for Ecological Security)
August 29, 2021
Diversion-based irrigation systems
Experience of Aga Khan Rural Support Programme (India) in revitalizing the traditional phad irrigation system in hilly tribal villages of Western Madhya Pradesh
Community members contribute voluntary labour required for laying the pipeline network and tank construction (Image: Anjali Aggarwal)
Jal Shakti Ministry releases DPRs for the revival of 13 rivers
Policy matters this fortnight
Swati Bansal
Posted on 24 Mar, 2022 09:13 AM

Centre releases DPRs to rejuvenate 13 rivers other than Ganga
River Mahanadi in Chhattisgarh (Image source: IWP Flickr photos)
Tribals await effective implementation of policies
Water access in tribal areas of Gujarat: Status and recommendations
Meenakshi Singh
Posted on 21 Mar, 2022 04:49 PM

Gujarat is home to 604 lakh people of whom 89 lakh or 15% are Scheduled Tribes (Census of India, 2011). These tribal communities mainly reside in the eastern districts of the state bordering the tribal districts in southern Rajasthan, western Madhya Pradesh, and northern Maharashtra.
Participants discussing about PIM and Pani Samiti (Water Associations) with local community leaders on a field visit to Pingot Dam (Image: AKRSP)
Making every drop count: Micro-irrigation for tribal farmers of Gujarat
Subsidies enable tribal farmers to adopt micro-irrigation systems providing them assured irrigation
Meenakshi Singh
Posted on 11 Mar, 2022 03:41 PM

The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) has recently released the second part of the Sixth Assessment Report – ‘Climate Change 2022: Impacts, Adaptation, and Vulnerability’.
A key mitigation strategy to deal with water scarcity due to climate change is on-farm management of water using techniques like micro-irrigation (Image: India Water Portal Flickr)
NGT stricter with Delhi, Haryana on restoring Najafgarh Jheel
Policy matters this fortnight
Swati Bansal
Posted on 01 Feb, 2022 02:49 PM

Enforce Najafgarh jheel restoration plan: NGT to Delhi, Haryana governments
Aerial view of the Najafgarh drain. (Image: Sumita Roy Dutta, Wikimedia Commons; CC BY-SA 4.0)
Kaabar Tal gasps for breath
Bihar’s first designated Ramsar site, the Kaabar Tal is dying. Urgent efforts to restore the Tal are needed!
Manudeo Singh
Rajiv Sinha
Posted on 28 Jan, 2022 12:15 PM

The Kosi-Gandak interfan region of the East Ganga Plains (EGP) is densely populated by wetlands, most of which are monsoonal (or seasonal), and remain dry in the non-monsoonal season.

Kaabar Tal, Bihar's first Ramsar site
Kaabar Tal cries for help! (Image Source: Mausam Nandan via Wikimedia Commons)
Soil arsenic above 14 mg/kg can cause rice to be unsafe for consumption
First meta-analysis utilizing published data from Asian paddy fields on arsenic in rice grain, soil, and irrigation water to determine the relationship between them and to derive a limit of soil arsenic using machine learning algorithms
Jajati Mandal
Sudip Sengupta
Soumyajit Sarkar
Abhijit Mukherjee
Michael D Wood
Simon M Hutchinson
Debapriya Mondal
Posted on 05 Jan, 2022 09:18 PM

Arsenic exposure, mainly through contaminated groundwater used for drinking, has widely been associated with detrimental health effects (
Soil contributes more than irrigation to rice-grain arsenic concentration (Image: Arjun Reddy, Pixabay)
Process of obtaining green nod simplified to allow ease of doing business: Govt
Policy matters this fortnight
Swati Bansal
Posted on 05 Jan, 2022 01:04 PM

Environment Ministry reports reduction in environmental clearance time from 150 to 90 days
Ease of doing business at the cost of environment (Source: IWP Flickr Photos) Photo for representation only.
Government gives a boost to PMKSY, Renuka ji, and Lakhwar hydro projects
Policy matters this fortnight
Swati Bansal
Posted on 20 Dec, 2021 04:00 PM

Centre approves Rs 93,000 crore to PMKSY, Renuka ji and Lakhwar
Yamuna flows under (Image source: IWP Flickr photos)
Rajya Sabha passes Dam Safety Bill, 2019
Policy matters this fortnight
Swati Bansal
Posted on 07 Dec, 2021 06:49 PM

Rajya Sabha passes Dam Safety Bill after 34 years of drafting
Malampuzha dam in Kerala (Image source: IWP Flickr Photos)
Does a drop per crop help groundwater extraction to stop?
This World Bank study from Andhra Pradesh found that drip irrigation did not limit groundwater exploitation. Farmers who had saved water continued to draw groundwater and sell it to farmers who were water constrained.
Ram Fishman
Xavier Giné
Hanan G. Jacoby
Posted on 04 Oct, 2021 11:19 PM

Groundwater irrigation covers more than half of the total irrigated area in India and is responsible for 70 percent of the agricultural production, making India one of the largest users of groundwater in the world.

India, hurtling towards a groundwater crisis
Groundwater depletion, a growing problem in India (Image Source: India Water Portal)
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