Towards Improved Performance of Irrigation Tanks in Semi-Arid Regions of India: Modernization Opportunities and Challenges

In the semi-arid regions of India there are around 120,000small-scale tanks, irrigating about 4.12 million ha. In manyareas, the tank storage structure is the only water source tostore rainwater and help farmers through crop growing periodand provide stability to agricultural production. Theunderdevelopment, stagnation and even decline of paddyagriculture during recent years in this region are usuallyattributed to the constraints in tank water supply. Whateverthe shortcoming at their creation, existing irrigation tanksremain an asset to the sustainability of irrigatedagriculture. The objective of this paper is to bring out thechallenges and opportunities towards improved performance ofirrigation tanks in semi-arid regions of India throughintegrated modernization. The performance of various types ofsmall scale irrigation tanks are evaluated for their role incrop production development strategies. The short-termstrategies include on farm development works throughmodernization of existing irrigation facilities/structures andconjunctive use of surface and groundwater resources. Thelong term challenges consist of establishing water gridsconnecting these modernized tanks in a chain to mitigatedrought and flood at local level as well as encouraging thefarmer's participation in planning and management of theseirrigation facilities for sustaining agriculture. It was foundthat evolving comprehensive but integrated modernizationstrategies for the tanks is a complex task, due to the dynamicinteractions of water.