ABSTRACT
Monsoon rains are unevenly distributed in space and time and not adequate to meet the moisture requirement of the crops for successful farming. India, having only 4% of the total available freshwater in the world, supports about 17% of the world’s population. The agricultural sector consumes more than 80% of the available water in India for the irrigation of crops and would continue to be the major waterconsuming sector because of intensive agriculture.1-3 Indian population is estimated to be 1.4 billion by 2020 with food requirement of 280 million-tons; therefore, the agricultural sector must grow by 4% and augment by about 3-4 million-tons of food per year. Although the ultimate irrigation potential of the country has been assessed at 140 million-ha in 2050, even after achieving the same, approximately half the cultivated land would still remain rain-fed. Therefore, water would continue to be the most critical resource limiting the agricultural growth.
