A Study on Irrigation Water Productivity under Different Irrigation Environments of Tamil Nadu, India

Abstract

The world is attempting to increase water efficiency in all activities, especially in irrigation, which consumes three-fourths of total available water. Concerning the near future food demand and sustainability issues, views are directed to reduce the usage of water or increase the efficiency of water use. India is a major contributor to the agricultural production and food supply to many countries. Irrigated agriculture is being followed by the many farmers in India which consumes huge amounts of water. Considering the monsoon failure and increased water demand, one must find solutions for retaining water in an available manner. The focus is on finding major water-consuming crops and irrigation methods under different irrigation environments of Tamil Nadu. Pudukottai, Salem and Erode are the districts of Tamil Nadu state selected as a study area. In each district, blocks, villages and respondents are selected through multi-stage random sampling. This study is entirely based on primary data which is collected using a well-structured interview schedule. The collected data is used to estimate the Physical Water Productivity (PWP) and Economic Water Productivity (EWP). The results show that PWP and EWP are variable across crops under different irrigation environments. In a tank environment, the alternate drying and wetting method of irrigation in paddy is effective and saves around 39 per cent of water compared to the conventional method by flooding. For Groundnut crops, drip irrigation is more effective than check basins which are better than the flood irrigation method. We can conclude that the farmers should follow water-saving irrigation methods/technologies and cultivate crops that show less demand for water during the season when the water is scarce and turn to cultivation of crops like sugarcane and banana in water surplus season.