ABSTRACT
Traditionally, efforts to address water supply problems have focused on major and medium irrigation projects. However, use of water in India is characterized by an increasing dependence on groundwater for irrigation. The annual extraction of groundwater in India (210 billion m3) is by far the highest in the world. Groundwater today provides for more than 60% of the net irrigated area. It accounted for over 85% of the addition to the irrigated area in the last 30 years. The area irrigated by canals and tanks has actually undergone a decline even in absolute terms since the 1990s. Mainly groundwater is used to irrigation crop under drip irrigation.
