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Mains Prelims

Q7 · UPSC Civil Services Mains 2016 · GS III · 12 marks · 2 min read

← Q15 Q8 →

What is water-use efficiency? Describe the role of micro-irrigation in increasing the water-use efficiency.

Topic: Crops, Irrigation and Marketing. Syllabus: Major crops — cropping patterns in various parts of the country; different types of irrigation and irrigation systems; storage, transport and marketing of agricultural produce and issues and related constraints; e-technology in the aid of farmers. Same official PYQ from year-wise 2016 and Crops, Irrigation and Marketing.

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Revision summary

Water-use efficiency is crop output or income per unit of water applied or consumed. Surface irrigation loses much water to evaporation, seepage and percolation. Drip and sprinkler put water in the root zone and allow fertigation, raising yield per drop and often cutting pump hours. Limits are capital cost, clogging and the risk of expanding thirsty crops. PMKSY (2015) and Per Drop More Crop subsidise micro-irrigation as the national programme.

Model answer

Copper italics in this answer — like this — are the key facts. Each one is unpacked in the Facts & figures rail.

Introduction

Water-use efficiency in farming is the useful crop output (or income) obtained per unit of water applied or consumed. Indian irrigation is still dominated by flood and furrow methods that lose water to evaporation, seepage and deep percolation. Micro-irrigation — drip and sprinkler — puts water (and often fertiliser) in the root zone. That is the practical route to more crop per drop.

Body

What water-use efficiency means

  • Agronomic efficiency is yield per cubic metre of irrigation water; economic efficiency is rupees of produce per unit of water.
  • Basin efficiency also counts return flows reused downstream; on-farm efficiency is what the farmer controls at the plot.
  • India's challenge is low on-farm efficiency in rice-wheat and sugarcane belts, falling groundwater, and climate-unreliable monsoon.
  • Efficiency is not only hardware. It needs scheduling, crop choice, lining of canals, and pricing or community rules that discourage waste.

Role of micro-irrigation

  • Drip irrigation delivers water in drops to the root zone through emitters. It cuts evaporation and wetting of unproductive soil, and it suits horticulture, cotton, sugarcane and vegetables.
  • Sprinklers spray water like rain. They suit cereals, pulses and fodder on undulating land where drip laterals are costly.
  • Both methods raise application efficiency well above typical surface irrigation, so the same reservoir or tube-well serves more area or the same area with less pumping.
  • Fertigation with drip places nutrients with water, raising fertiliser-use efficiency and cutting leaching into groundwater.
  • Less waterlogging and soil crusting improve root health and quality of produce, which matters for export horticulture.
  • Energy use per kilogram can fall because pumps run fewer hours, which also eases the power-subsidy burden of States.
  • Limits: high capital cost, clogging in saline or dirty water, need for filters and farmer training, and weak results if farmers still grow water-guzzling crops on a larger command.

Policy support

  • Pradhan Mantri Krishi Sinchayee Yojana (PMKSY, 2015) unifies irrigation efforts with the motto Har Khet Ko Pani and Per Drop More Crop.
  • The Per Drop More Crop component subsidises micro-irrigation systems, often with State top-up, and links them to water-user groups.
  • National Mission for Sustainable Agriculture and earlier National Mission on Micro Irrigation laid the subsidy path that PMKSY absorbed.
  • Efficiency also needs participatory irrigation management, canal lining, and crop diversification away from paddy in severely over-exploited blocks.

Flow diagram

flowchart TD
  W[Irrigation water] --> F[Flood furrow losses]
  W --> M[Micro irrigation drip sprinkler]
  M --> E[Higher water-use efficiency]
  M --> G[Fertigation less pumping]
  P[PMKSY Per Drop More Crop] --> M
  E --> Y[More crop per drop]

Conclusion

Water-use efficiency is more yield and income from each unit of water. Drip and sprinkler raise that efficiency by cutting non-beneficial losses and enabling fertigation. PMKSY's Per Drop More Crop is the Union vehicle; it works when hardware comes with training, maintenance and sensible crop choice.

Quick related

Students also ask

  • What is allelopathy? Discuss its role in major cropping systems of irrigated agriculture.

    Next question on this syllabus topic (2016 · Q8). View answer →

  • Does micro-irrigation always save river or aquifer water at basin scale?

    On-farm losses fall, but if farmers expand area or thirsty crops, basin savings can be smaller. Crop choice still matters.

  • Is canal irrigation outdated once drip exists?

    No. Canals still fill ponds and aquifers. Micro-irrigation is the on-farm application method that makes that water go further.

Same topic · past papers

UPSC has asked this before

These previous-year questions sit on the same topic. Open one to practise the earlier ask.

  1. 2021 · Q4 · GS III · 10 marks

    How and to what extent would micro-irrigation help in solving India's water crisis ?

    View answer →

More from this topic

Q5 · UPSC Mains 2026 · GS III · 10 marks · Solution

Explain by giving two examples, how biotechnology has helped the Indian farmers in processing their perishable crops.

Crops, Irrigation and Marketing

• Biotechnology extends the post-harvest shelf life and processing capabilities of perishable crops, protecting farmers from distress sales. • Silencing ripening enzymes (like polygalacturonase) in transgenic varieties prevents premature softening and reduces transit losses. • Example 1: Genetically modified tomatoes engineered to resist rapid rotting during storage without complete cold-chain dependency. • Microbial fermentation and bio-processing convert surplus perishable harvests into stable, high-value industrial and food products. • Enzymatic maceration using pectinases and cellulases allows efficient fruit pulp breakdown and juice extraction. • Example 2: Biotech-driven conversion of surplus horticulture crops into stable concentrates, purees, and fermented beverages. • Scaling these interventions requires strengthening public-private research partnerships and biosafety frameworks.

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