Micro irrigation in Indian agriculture: progress, adoption and impact

This paper analyses the progress, adoption and impact of micro irrigation technology in Rajasthan. The study employed both secondary data through published sources and primary data collected from field survey. The results show substantial progress in physical and financial terms and convergence between area coverage and expenditure in recent years. Analysis has shown that adopted farmers having assured irrigation allocated relatively large area towards cash crops like groundnut, wheat, gram and rapeseed and mustard and received higher net returns from investment than non-adopters. The factors which influenced adoption of sprinkler system include age, farming experience, family labour and depth of well and pump capacity (interaction). The analysis shows that adoption of sprinkler helped in increasing irrigation capacity by 49%, resulting in increasing profitability of the farm. The adoption of sprinkler made farms economically viable and can be a viable option in achieving the objectives of Prime Minister Krishi Sinchayai Yojana (PMSKY) to provide water for every field and receive per drop more crop using micro irrigation technologies.