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| Water |
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| To increase food production the water resources of the country should be managed. India has 12 major river basins and 8 composite river basins that form the surface water resource. Besides, the ground water also adds to the total water resource. The monsoons bring in lot of rainfall. If our water resources are well planned and utilized we must have sufficient water to irrigate our fields. Unfortunately more than 55% of our cultivated land does not have irrigation facilities and depends on rainfall. So if there is no rain the crops will fail. Therefore it is important to improve the efficiency of irrigation. The following steps could be adopted. |
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 Selecting appropriate crop and cropping system. |
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 Application of optimum quantity of water at the right time. |
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 Controlling weeds. |
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 Controlling pests. |
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 Avoiding wastage. |
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| An understanding of the different types of irrigation systems is essential for better water management. |
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| The process of supplying water to crops in the fields by means of canals, reservoirs, wells, river valley systems and river lift systems is known as irrigation. |
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 Canal System |
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| This system receives water from one or more reservoirs or from rivers. It consists of a main canal which distributes water into branch canals and branch canals have further distributaries or channels which serve water to individual fields. This system forms a good arterial distribution system which can be more efficiently controlled by following the rotation system. By this method each field is supplied water by rotation and helps conserve water when the water supply is insufficient. |
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 Reservoirs (tanks) |
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| There are small storage tanks which intercept and store the overflow of smaller catchment areas. Small dams are built below the higher elevation of the catchment area. Outflow from the tank is regulated according to the availability of water. This ensures uniform distribution of water. |
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 Wells |
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| Wells are dug wherever exploitable ground water is present. Wells are of two kinds |
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| Classification of wells |
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| Open wells are dug to a depth of just below the water table. These wells are not very deep and water fills up from the upper strata. Water can be drawn from these wells manually by labourers, bullocks or electric pumps. |
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| Tube wells or bore wells are very deep and tap water from the lower strata of the water table. Water from these wells is pumped up with the help of diesel or electric pumps. Being deep, bore wells can supply large quantity of water and do not dry up so fast. |
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 River Valley system |
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| This system utilizes the run-off and discharge flows of the river during the rainy season. In Southern India, particularly in the Western Ghats in the states of Karnataka and Kerala many steep and riverine valleys are found. The rainfall is heavy and the rainy season lasts for 4 - 5 months. Thus river flowing in the valley swells up during the rainy season but recedes during summer. On the hill slopes and in the valleys perennial crops such as coconut, areca nut, coffee, rubber and tapioca are cultivated. The flat lands are used for growing rice. |
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 River lift system |
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| Here water is directly drawn from the rivers for supplementing irrigation in regions near the river. This system is adopted when canal flow is insufficient or irregular due to inadequate reservoir release. |
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