ABSTRACT
The analysis of irrigation data since the 1970s indicates that the area under canal irrigation is becoming stagnant and falling gradually, while the area under bore-well irrigation has been rising sharply. In contrast, the area under tank irrigation has been rapidly falling and exhibits a negative growth rate. The public irrigation domain in India as well as in Karnataka suffers from many problems like a widening gap between irrigation potential created and utilised, gross inefficiency in water use, land degradation, sub-optimal use of water, poor revenue generation from the existing water rates, low adoption of efficient irrigation technologies, and lack of coordination among stakeholders relating to the monitoring and enforcement of water management measures. In the case of tank irrigation, there has been large-scale degradation due to heavy siltation, encroachment of catchments, and declining public investments for its rehabilitation. The prime issues of concern in groundwater irrigation include inter alia over-exploitation and the alarming fall in the groundwater table leading to substantial investments in coping mechanisms. Further, high inefficiency in energy use for lifting groundwater is continuing. In order to address the critical issues of the irrigation sector, the current conventional practices of irrigation need to be replaced by modern irrigation practices/methods mainly to improve efficiency in water and energy use.
