Lok Sabha Question No. 43 (STARRED), answered on 2024-02-06
Subject: Scheme to enhance Irrigation Facilities
Ministry: AGRICULTURE AND FARMERS WELFARE
Asked by: Reddeppa Nallakonda Gari

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF AGRICULTURE & FARMERS' WELFARE DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE & FARMERS' WELFARE

## LOK SABHA STARRED QUESTION NO.43

TO BE ANSWERED ON THE 6 TH  FEBRUARY, 2024

## SCHEME TO ENHANCE IRRIGATION FACILITIES

- *43.  SHRI N. REDDEPPA:

Will the Minister of AGRICULTURE AND FARMERS' WELFARE क ृ िष एवं िकसान कʞाण मंũी be pleased to state: (a) the details of specific schemes or projects implemented to enhance irrigation facilities in varying geographic and climatic conditions; (b) the  promotion  and  adoption  of  water-efficient  farming  practices  like  drip  and sprinkler irrigation; and (c) the  details  of  collaborative  efforts  with  State  Governments  to  address  water scarcity, promote rainwater harvesting and watershed management?

## ANSWER

MINISTSER OF AGRICULTURE AND FARMES WELFARE क ृ िष एवं िकसान कʞाण मंũी (SHRI ARJUN MUNDA)

(a)  to (c): A Statement is laid on the Table of the House

## STATEMENT REFERRED TO IN REPLY TO PARTS (a) TO (c) OF LOK SABHA STARRED QUESTION NO. 43 DUE FOR REPLY ON 6 TH  FEBRUARY, 2024.

(a) to (c): Government  of  India  is  committed  to  accord  high  priority  to  water conservation and its management.  Water being a State subject, the aspects related to water resources are studied, planned, funded and executed by the State Governments. Government  of  India  provides  technical  and  financial  support  through  the  existing schemes.

To  this  effect,  Pradhan  Mantri  Krishi  Sinchayee  Yojana  (PMKSY)  has  been formulated with the vision of extending the coverage of irrigation 'Har Khet Ko Pani' and improving water use efficiency 'More Crop Per Drop' in a focused manner with end to end  solution  on  source  creation,  distribution,  management,  field  application  and extension activities.   The Scheme was launched during the year 2015-16, with an aim to enhance physical access of water on farm and expand cultivable area under assured irrigation, improve on-farm water use efficiency, introduce sustainable water conservation practices, etc.  The components of PMKSY are as under:

- I. Accelerated Irrigation Benefit Programme (PMKSY-AIBP) being implemented by Department  of  Water  Resources,  River  Development  &  Ganga  Rejuvenation (DoWR,RD&GR).
- II. Har Khet Ko Pani (PMKSY-HKKP) being implemented by DoWR,RD&GR.
- III. Watershed  Development  Component  (WDC-PMKSY)  being  implemented  by Department of Land Resources (DoLR).
- IV. Per Drop More Crop (PDMC) being implemented by Department of Agriculture & Farmers' Welfare (DA&FW).

The  Government  has  approved  PMKSY-AIBP,  PMKSY-HKKP  and  WDCPMKSY components for implementation under PMKSY during 2021-22 to 2025-26 with overall outlay of Rs. 93,068.56 crore. Further, PDMC is being implemented under RKVY in the Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers' Welfare from 2022-23 with a proposed outlay of Rs. 23569.00 crore during 2021-22 to 2025-26.

The PMKSY-AIBP and PMKSY-HKKP components are being implemented by DoWR,RD&GR. As per the information received from the Department, the PMKSYAIBP focuses on faster completion of on-going Major and Medium Irrigation projects prioritized during 2016-17 for expeditious completion alongwith their Command Area

Development and Water Management (HKKP-CADWM) works. During 2016-17, ninetynine (99) on-going Major/Medium irrigation projects in the country were prioritised under PMKSY-AIBP  in  consultation  with  States  for  completion  in  phases.  Out  of  these projects, AIBP works of 58 prioritized projects have been reported to be completed (4 projects recently completed). An additional irrigation potential of 25.11 lakh hectare has been reported to be created by these projects in the country from 2016-17 to 20222023. In addition, 9 more projects have been included under PMKSY-AIBP from 202122  onwards.  Besides  above  projects,  Central  Assistance  is  also  being  provided  for Special  /  National  Projects,  namely,  Renukaji,  Lakhwar,  Shahpur  Kandi,  Polavaram National Projects and Relining of Rajasthan Feeder and Sirhind Feeder of Punjab under PMKSY-AIBP.  Govt of India has also approved a Special Package for Maharashtra during  November,2018  which  provides  Central  Assistance  to  complete  83  Surface Minor Irrigation (SMI) projects and 8 Major / Medium Irrigation Projects in drought prone districts in Vidarbha, Marathwada and rest of Maharashtra. During 2018-19 to 2022-23, an irrigation potential of 1.65 lakh hectare has been created through Special Package for Maharashtra.

PMKSY- Har Khet Ko Pani being implemented by DoWR,RD&GR also has sub components; (i) Surface Minor Irrigation  (SMI)  (ii)  Repair,  Renovation  &  Restoration (RRR) of Water Bodies and (iii) Ground Water Irrigation. The schemewise details are as follows:

-  The  schemes  of  Surface  Minor  Irrigation  (SMI)  and  Repair,  Renovation  & Restoration  (RRR)  of  Water  Bodies  are  implemented  for  developing  surface irrigation.
-  So far, an area of 2.99 Lakh hectare of irrigation potential has been created under SMI scheme and an area of 1.06 Lakh hectare of irrigation potential restored under RRR scheme.
-  Ground Water Irrigation scheme aims for assured ground water irrigation to small and  marginal  farmers  by  construction  of  wells  and  tubewells  to  reduce  the dependence on rainwater. Total  13 projects have been sanctioned under the scheme in 10 States, namely, Assam, Arunachal Pradesh, Gujarat, Nagaland, Manipur, Mizoram, Tripura, Tamil Nadu, Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand. Under these  projects,  29779  wells  have  been  constructed  with  88547  hectare  of command area benefitting 67902 small & marginal farmers.

The Watershed Development Component (WDC-PMKSY) is being implemented by  DoLR.  As  per  the  information  received  from  the  Department,  The  activities undertaken under WDC-PMKSY are ridge area treatment, drainage line treatment, soil and moisture conservation, rainwater harvesting, nursery raising, pasture development, livelihoods for asset less persons etc. A total of 8214 watershed development projects were sanctioned from 2009-10 to 2014-15, under Integrated Watershed Management Programme (IWMP) in 28 States. The IWMP was amalgamated under PMKSY in 201516  as  WDC-PMKSY-1.0.  Out  of  total  8214  projects  sanctioned  under  Integrated Watershed Management Programme, 1832 projects were transferred to States /UTs in 2018 for implementation with their own resources / budget. The remaining 6382 projects were  funded  by  DoLR  and  out  of  these  6382  projects,  6376  projects  have  been completed.  During  2015-16  to  2021-22,  approximately  6.56  lakh  water  harvesting structures have been created / rejuvenated with about 14.54 lakh hectare of protective irrigation  potential  brought  under  WDC-PMKSY  1.0.  Continuation  of  the  scheme  as WDC-PMKSY 2.0 has been approved by Government during December, 2021. Under WDC-PMKSY 2.0, 1150 projects  have been sanctioned to States/UTs covering an area of 50.55 lakh hectare. During 2022-23 and 2023-24 (upto 2nd Qtr.), approximately 0.79 lakh water harvesting structures have been created / rejuvenated with about 0.83 lakh hectare of protective irrigation potential.

The Per Drop More Crop component is being implemented by DA&FW. During 2015-16 to 2021-22, PDMC Scheme was implemented as a component of PMKSY. From the year 2022-23, PDMC is being implemented by Department of Agriculture & Farmers Welfare  as  a  component  of  Rashtriya  Krishi  Vikas  Yojana  (RKVY).  PDMC focuses  on  enhancing  water  use  efficiency  at  farm  level  through  Micro  Irrigation, namely, Drip and Sprinkler irrigation systems. To supplement source creation to enable the farmers to adopt micro irrigation, the scheme supports micro level water storage, water conservation/management activities etc on need basis. An area of 83.46 lakh hectare has been covered under Micro Irrigation in the Country with release of Central Assistance of Rs. 19363.20 crore to the States through PDMC Scheme from 2015-16 till date. Further, to facilitate the States in mobilising resources for expanding coverage of micro irrigation, Government of India has created Micro Irrigation Fund (MIF) with National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (NABARD) with initial corpus of Rs. 5000 Crore. States can avail loan under MIF for taking up special and innovative projects  for  expanding  coverage  of  Micro  Irrigation  and  also  for  incentivising  micro irrigation beyond the provisions available under PDMC scheme to encourage farmers.

Government  of  India  provides  interest  subvention  @3%  on  the  loan  availed  by  the States which is met from PDMC Scheme. So far, projects with loans amounting Rs. 4724.74 crore have been approved with Rs. 2812.24 crore of disbursement of loans to States on reimbursement basis. Indian  Council  of  Agricultural  Research  (ICAR)  is  engaged  in  research  and promotion  of micro  irrigation  through  All  India  coordinated  programmes,  consortia platforms and Krishi Vigyan Kendra (KVKs).  It has developed optimum drip irrigation schedules for different crops in different agro-ecological regions of the country. Further, drip  fertigation  schedules for 24  crops  have  been  developed  for efficient use of water and fertilizer, thereby, bringing more area under micro irrigation. ICAR  also  imparts  training,  organizes  field  demonstrations  to  educate farmers, administrators and other stakeholders on all these aspects. Besides, Ministry of Rural Development,  Government of India supports construction  of  water  harvesting  and  conservation  works  through  Mahatma  Gandhi National  Rural  Employment  Guarantee  Scheme  (MGNREGS).  As  per  information received from the Ministry, the Large number of water bodies such as farm ponds, dug wells,  check  dams  and  community  ponds  (water  harvesting  &  Fishery)  have  been created under the MGNREGS Scheme. Under the Scheme, 26,76,063 water harvesting structures have been created during last five years and current year, so far. Mission Amrit Sarovar has been launched in April 2022 as a part of celebration of Azadi ka Amrit Mahotsav with an objective of construction/ development of at least 75 Amrit Sarovar (ponds) in every district of the country. So far, 85430 nos. of works have been commenced and 70066 sites have been completed under the Mission.

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