Drainage of irrigated agriculture in Bihar, India—Some issues

Abstract

Irrigation development has been taking place for centuries in India. Considerable areas of fertile land under irrigated agriculture have gone out of production due to waterlogging and salt-related problems. The provision of drains was deferred or postponed in several projects due to shortage of funds during the initial stages. Because of this fact, the productivity of water (t ha⁻¹ mm⁻¹) in India still remains very low. The main reason for the low yields is improper water management, especially lack of drainage in irrigated command areas. There are vast areas in the country urgently requiring drainage works and the present governmental resources are not adequate to cope with the growing demand. Promotion of the private sector in reclamation work and installation of subsurface drains at local level needs encouragement. All these issues together with the research activities inclusive of drainage materials undertaken by different organizations are critically described and discussed in this paper.