Water management in northern states and the food security of India

India has had a history of famines because of rainfed agriculture and rapid population growth. After the era of Green Revolution that began in the 1960s, India never experienced a famine-like situation; it did, however, experience a drought of the century in 1987. Northern states (Punjab, Haryana and western UP) with a high level of irrigation are contributing almost all of wheat and two-thirds of rice to the central pool of India. Punjab has the largest area (97%) under irrigation, with a corresponding contribution (60% of wheat and 40% of rice) to the central pool.