India to expand irrigation by a tenth to cut monsoon reliance

India plans to expand its farmland underirrigationby at least a tenth in the next three years, potentially boosting grains output by an equal proportion in the world's second-biggestrice and wheat producer, a topgovernment officialtold Reuters.

The extra irrigated area would cut India's dependence on annual monsoon rains that water crops grown on nearly half of the country's farmlands. Rice, cane, corn,cottonand soybean are the main monsoon crops.

Crop yields on irrigated farms are usually 2-2.5 times those in rain-fed areas. Better yields would boost exports after India shipped large quantities of rice and wheat in recent years.

"We have around 97 million hectares under irrigation and it's slated to go up by 10% by 2017. Eventually, the potential is to take this forward by almost half to 149 million hectares," A.B. Pandya, chairman of thestate-run Central Water Commission, said in an interview on Monday.

Higher output andproductivitywill also raise rural income, stoking demand for an array for consumer goods ranging from lipsticks to refrigerators.

Although agriculture's share in India's nearly $2 trillion dollar economy has steadily fallen to 14%, the sector continues to employ more than half of its 1.2 billion people.

If India manages to realise its irrigation potential, almost three-quarters of its 199 million hectares of arable land would be irrigated, leaving just a quarter dependent on monsoon rains.

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• Food Security
• Irrigation
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