Groundwater Irrigation Economy of Haryana:A Glimpse into Spread, Extent and Issues

Since the inception of Green Revolution in India, Haryana has emerged as one of the major users of groundwater in irrigation sector. Irrigation supplied by groundwater played a vital role in agricultural transformation, food security and livelihoods of the country in general and of the State in particular. However, very limited research on groundwater irrigation economy of Haryana has been conducted till now. Therefore, the present study based on both primary and secondary data has been conducted to highlight the various facets of groundwater economy in agriculture dominated State of Haryana. The obtained results indicate that the density of tube wells per thousand hectares and number has increased by more than 250 and 300 per cent, respectively, during 1975 to 2013. The area under hired irrigation through tube wells is also increasing. In spite of remarkable increase in number of commercial and cooperative banks in the State, they account for only about 15 per cent of the total loans disbursed for tube well installation. Bulk of tube wells (70 per cent) are owned by small farmers and it is contrary to the belief that the benefit of electricity subsidy goes only to large farmers who are most likely to have large number of own electric tube wells. Finally, the findings of the study reflect that the groundwater irrigation economy in Haryana is in growth phase and it is important to understand fully the dynamics of this economy before the managers and policy makers may begin to think about effectively managing it.