Why Impacts of Irrigation on Agrarian Dynamism and Livelihoods Are Contrasting: Evidence From Eastern Indian States

Irrigation, agriculture, poverty and standard of living were analysed in five eastern Indian states to delineate the links and/or missing links between the standard of living scenario and performance of the irrigation and agriculture sectors. Different indices were constructed for assessment of district- wise scenarios of irrigation, agriculture, poverty and standard of living; accordingly, the majority of the districts in the eastern Indian states showed both the irrigation and agricultural scenarios at a low level, which may be attributed to the meagre groundwater-irrigated area due to the low level of groundwater development (27%) and dependence on a surface irrigation system that suffers from a low level of irrigation efficiency and intensity. Lack of an assured irrigation service has a bearing on the low productivity of the major crop paddy and food grain production. Better living conditions and less poverty were found in the districts where relatively better irrigation and agricultural performance were observed. Multiple regression revealed 60% (R2 > 0.60) variation in living conditions was predicted by the indicators of agriculture and poverty excluding the indicators of irrigation, which is attributed to the fact of lower groundwater exploitation for irrigation in most of the districts of eastern Indian states due to poor institutional and infrastructure support resulting in a lower impact of irrigation on the poverty and standard of living scenarios.