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Irrigation, the Green Revolution and new directions

తెలుగులో వివరణ

Agriculture of India · Part 4 / 4 · Fact-checked on 8 November 2026 · how we check

Written with AI from the sources listed at the bottom of this page, then fact-checked by a separate AI.

Canals, wells and tube wells, and tanks, and where each dominates; groundwater stress and the CGWB categories; drip, sprinklers and PMKSY; the Green Revolution, its package, its gains and its costs; dryland farming and watershed development; organic and natural farming.

Each idea is explained first in Telugu (తెలుగు), ending with the English and Hindi exam terms, followed by the same point in exam English. UPSC Prelims is in English or Hindi, so understand it in Telugu and revise it in English.

ఇప్పటిదాకా భూమి, పంటలు ఎక్కడ పండుతాయో చూశాం. ఇప్పుడు నీళ్లు పొలానికి ఎలా వస్తాయి, 1960ల తర్వాత వ్యవసాయం ఎలా మారింది అనేది. వాన కొన్ని నెలలే, అదీ ఏటా ఒకేలా ఉండదు; వాన కోసమే ఎదురుచూసే పొలం జూదం లాంటిదే. సాగునీరు ఉంటే చలికాలంలో రెండో పంట వేయొచ్చు, పంటల సాంద్రత పెరుగుతుంది, ఖరీదైన విత్తనం, ఎరువు కొనడం లాభం. అందుకే హరిత విప్లవం నీరు ఉన్న చోటే మొదలైంది. దానికి ఖర్చు కూడా ఉంది: లోతుకు పోయిన నీటి మట్టం, అలసిన నేల. ఇప్పుడు కొత్త దారులు: నీటి పొదుపు, మెట్ట భూమికి ప్రాణం, తక్కువ రసాయనాలు. (→ English: cropping intensity; Green Revolution · हिन्दी: शस्य गहनता; हरित क्रांति)

In exam EnglishParts 1 to 3 showed how India uses its farmland and which crops grow where. This last part asks two further questions: how do farmers get water to their fields, and how did farming change after the 1960s? Indian rain arrives in a few monsoon months and swings from year to year, so a field that waits only for rain is always a gamble. It allows a second crop in the dry winter, raises cropping intensity and makes costly seed and fertiliser worth buying. That is why the Green Revolution began where water was assured. The story also has a cost side, in sinking water tables and worn-out soils, and a search for new directions: saving water, reviving dry land and farming with fewer chemicals.

పొలానికి నీళ్లు నాలుగు దారుల్లో వస్తాయి. కాలువ: ఆనకట్ట నుంచి నది నీరు. బావి, బోరుబావి: భూమి లోపలి నీరు, మోటారుతో పైకి. చెరువు: వర్షపు నీటిని కట్ట వేసి ఆపడం; మన ఊరి చెరువు లాంటిదే. ఇప్పుడు సగానికి పైగా సాగు భూగర్భ జలం మీదే. ఎందుకు? కాలువ నీరు వంతుల ప్రకారం వస్తుంది, చివరి పొలానికి తరచు అందదు; కానీ బోరు మోటారు స్విచ్ రైతు చేతిలో ఉంటుంది. చౌకగా లేదా ఉచితంగా కరెంటు ఉంటే ఇంకా సులువు. (→ English: groundwater; canal, tube well, tank · हिन्दी: भूजल; नहर, नलकूप, तालाब)

In exam EnglishIndian farmers draw water from four kinds of source. Canals lead river water away from a dam or barrage. Wells and tube wells pump up water stored underground. Tanks are small reservoirs, made by raising an earthen bank across a slope or a stream to hold monsoon run-off. The Ministry of Agriculture's land-use figures show that wells and tube wells together water more than half of the net irrigated area, with canals a distant second and tanks a small and shrinking share. groundwater won because the farmer controls it: a pump can be switched on the very day a crop needs water, whereas canal water comes by a fixed turn and often runs short at the tail end of the network. Cheap or free electricity for farm pumps in many states made pumping cheaper still.

ఎక్కడ ఏ నీటి వనరు అనేది నేల, రాయి, నదిని బట్టి. ఉత్తర మైదానాల్లో మంచు కరిగే నదులు, చదునైన నేల, అందుకే కాలువలు; గోదావరి, కృష్ణా డెల్టాల్లోనూ కాలువలే. పంజాబ్, హర్యానాలో లోతైన ఇసుక, ఒండ్రు పొరల్లో నీరు ఎక్కువ, బోరు వేయడం సులువు. మన తెలంగాణ, రాయలసీమ లాంటి దక్కన్ పీఠభూమిలో గట్టి రాయి, నీరు లోపల తక్కువ, వాగులు ఎండిపోతాయి; అందుకే ఊరికో చెరువు. దేశంలో సాగు భూమిలో దాదాపు సగానికే సాగునీరు. (→ English: canal, tube well, tank irrigation · हिन्दी: नहर, नलकूप, तालाब सिंचाई)

In exam EnglishWhich source leads in a region depends on its relief, its rock and its rivers. Canals lead in the flat northern plains fed by Himalayan rivers, in Punjab, Haryana and Uttar Pradesh, and in the east-coast deltas of the Godavari, the Krishna and the Kaveri. Tube wells lead across the alluvial plains of Punjab, Haryana and western Uttar Pradesh, because deep beds of sand and silt hold plenty of water that is easy to bore into. Tanks belong to the southern plateau, in Tamil Nadu, Telangana, Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka. There the hard crystalline rock stores little water below ground, most streams dry up after the rains and the rolling land makes it easy to bank up small valleys. Across the country, roughly half of the net sown area is irrigated.

Sources of irrigation at a glance
Source	How it works	Where it leads	Main problem
Canals	River water led from dams or barrages	Northern plains (Punjab, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh); east-coast deltas	Waterlogging and salinity; short supply at the tail end
Wells and tube wells	Groundwater lifted by pumps	Alluvial plains of the north-west; Gujarat, Rajasthan	Water tables fall where pumping exceeds recharge
Tanks	Monsoon run-off held behind earthen banks	Southern plateau (Tamil Nadu, Telangana, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka)	Silting and encroachment; dry in poor monsoon years
Drip and sprinkler	Water piped to the root or sprayed over the crop	Orchards, vegetables, cotton, sugarcane; sandy land	High cost at the start

బ్యాంకు ఖాతా అనుకోండి: వాన ఏటా కొంత జమ చేస్తుంది, మనం మోటార్లతో తీస్తాం. జమ కన్నా ఎక్కువ తీస్తే ఖాతా ఖాళీ. కేంద్ర భూగర్భ జల బోర్డు ప్రతి బ్లాకును ఇలా లెక్కిస్తుంది: 70% వరకు సురక్షితం, 70–90 సెమీ క్రిటికల్, 90–100 క్రిటికల్, 100 దాటితే అతిగా వాడినది. పంజాబ్, హర్యానా వరి-గోధుమ భూములు, రాజస్థాన్, ఢిల్లీ, తమిళనాడు, కర్ణాటకలో గట్టి రాతి ప్రాంతాలు ఇలాంటివి. కాలువ ప్రాంతంలో ఉల్టా సమస్య: ఎక్కువ నీరు, మురుగు పోక నీటి మట్టం పైకి వచ్చి చౌడు నేల తెల్లటి పొర. (→ English: stage of groundwater extraction; saline and alkaline soil · हिन्दी: भूजल निष्कर्षण का चरण; लवणीय और क्षारीय मृदा)

In exam EnglishThe spread of tube wells has a price: in many districts more water is pumped out each year than the rain puts back. The Central Ground Water Board, working with the states, rates every assessment unit by its stage of extraction, meaning the share of the yearly extractable recharge that is actually drawn out. A unit counts as safe up to 70 percent, semi-critical from 70 to 90, critical from 90 to 100 and over-exploited above 100 percent. Critical and over-exploited units are concentrated in the rice and wheat lands of Punjab and Haryana, in Rajasthan and Delhi, and in hard-rock parts of Tamil Nadu and Karnataka. Canal areas can suffer the opposite fault. Heavy watering with poor drainage lifts the water table, leaving fields waterlogged and crusted with the salts of saline and alkaline soil, as in parts of the Indira Gandhi Canal command in Rajasthan.

ఆసుపత్రిలో సెలైన్ బొట్టు బొట్టుగా నేరుగా నరంలోకి వెళ్లినట్టు, డ్రిప్‌లో నీరు బొట్టు బొట్టుగా నేరుగా వేరుకు. మామిడి తోట, కూరగాయలు, పత్తి, చెరకుకు బాగుంటుంది; అదే నీటిలో ఎరువు కలపొచ్చు. స్ప్రింక్లర్ చిన్న వానలా చల్లుతుంది; ఇసుక నేలకు, దగ్గర దగ్గరగా పెరిగే పంటలకు. ఇదే సూక్ష్మ సేద్యం: నీరు, కూలీ ఆదా, కానీ మొదట్లో ఖర్చు, అందుకే సబ్సిడీ. 2015 పీఎంకేఎస్‌వై నినాదాలు: 'హర్ ఖేత్ కో పానీ' (ప్రతి పొలానికి నీరు), 'పర్ డ్రాప్ మోర్ క్రాప్' (ప్రతి బొట్టుకు ఎక్కువ పంట). (→ English: micro-irrigation; Per Drop More Crop · हिन्दी: सूक्ष्म सिंचाई; प्रति बूँद अधिक फ़सल)

In exam EnglishOne response is to make each drop go further. In micro-irrigation, water reaches the plant through pipes instead of flooding the whole field. Drip irrigation lets water fall slowly at the root through small emitters, and suits widely spaced crops such as fruit trees, vegetables, cotton and sugarcane; fertiliser can be dissolved in the same water, a practice called fertigation. Sprinklers spray water over the crop like light rain and suit close-growing crops on sandy or uneven ground, where flooding a field wastes water. Both save water and labour but cost money up front, so governments subsidise them. The Pradhan Mantri Krishi Sinchayee Yojana (PMKSY), approved in 2015, brought the irrigation schemes together under two slogans, 'Har Khet Ko Pani' (water to every field) and 'Per Drop More Crop'. Per Drop More Crop is its micro-irrigation part.

1960లలో మనం అమెరికా నుంచి గోధుమలు తెప్పించుకుని తినేవాళ్లం; 1965, 1966 కరువులతో పరిస్థితి ఇంకా దిగజారింది. పరిష్కారం ఒక 'ప్యాకేజీ': అధిక దిగుబడి వంగడం విత్తనం (పొట్టి గోధుమ, తర్వాత IR8 వరి) + ఎక్కువ రసాయన ఎరువు + సరైన సమయానికి నీరు + పురుగు మందు. కొత్త మొబైల్ ఫోన్ ఛార్జర్, నెట్ లేకుంటే పనికిరానట్టు, ఈ విత్తనం నీరు, ఎరువు లేకుంటే దిగుబడి ఇవ్వదు. స్వామినాథన్ నాయకత్వంలో పరీక్షలు; ప్రభుత్వం ధర హామీ, కొనుగోలు ఇచ్చింది. 1968లో 'హరిత విప్లవం' అనే పేరు. ముందు పంజాబ్, హర్యానా గోధుమ. (→ English: high-yielding variety (HYV); Green Revolution · हिन्दी: अधिक उपज देने वाली किस्म; हरित क्रांति)

In exam EnglishIn the mid-1960s India was importing large amounts of wheat, much of it from the United States, and the droughts of 1965 and 1966 made the shortage acute. The answer was a package. At its centre was high-yielding variety (HYV) seed: short-stemmed (dwarf) wheat that grew out of Norman Borlaug's breeding work in Mexico, and later rice such as IR8 from the International Rice Research Institute in the Philippines. These plants give their big harvests only with heavy doses of chemical fertiliser, timely and assured water, and pesticides. Indian scientists led by M. S. Swaminathan tested and adapted the seeds, and the government added cheap credit, guaranteed prices and public purchase; the Agricultural Prices Commission and the Food Corporation of India were both set up in 1965. In 1968 the American official William Gaud gave the change the name Green Revolution. Because the package depended on water, it took root first in the irrigated wheat lands of Punjab, Haryana and western Uttar Pradesh; rice followed later.

లాభం పెద్దదే: గోధుమ ఉత్పత్తి వేగంగా పెరిగింది, 1970ల మొదట్లోనే విదేశీ ఆహార సాయం అవసరం పోయింది, గోదాముల్లో ధాన్యం నిల్వలు రేషన్ షాపులకు ఆధారం అయ్యాయి. కానీ పంపకం అసమానం. పెళ్లి విందులో ముందు వరుసకే అన్నీ అందినట్టు: ప్రాంతం పరంగా సాగునీరున్న వాయువ్యం ముందు, వర్షాధార మధ్య భారతం, తూర్పు రాష్ట్రాలు వెనక; పంట పరంగా గోధుమ, వరి ముందు, పప్పులు, నూనెగింజలు, చిరుధాన్యాలు వెనక; రైతు పరంగా భూమి, బోరు, అప్పు ఉన్నవాళ్లు ముందు. తూర్పుకు తీసుకెళ్లడానికి 2010–11లో కొత్త కార్యక్రమం. (→ English: regional imbalance; Bringing Green Revolution to Eastern India · हिन्दी: क्षेत्रीय असंतुलन; पूर्वी भारत में हरित क्रांति लाना)

In exam EnglishThe gains were large. Wheat output climbed steeply within a few years, by the early 1970s India no longer relied on food aid, and the government could build up grain stocks that later backed the public distribution system. Yet the benefits were uneven in three ways. Between regions, the irrigated north-west raced ahead while rain-fed central India, the dry peninsula and the eastern states with poor water control gained far less. Between crops, wheat and rice received most of the research, price support and procurement, while pulses, oilseeds and millets lagged. Between farmers, those with land, wells and access to credit adopted the package first. To carry the gains eastward, the Centre started Bringing Green Revolution to Eastern India in 2010–11, aimed at the rice lands of states such as Bihar, Odisha, West Bengal, Assam and eastern Uttar Pradesh.

ఒకే పొలంలో ఏడాది తర్వాత ఏడాది వేసవిలో వరి, చలికాలంలో గోధుమ: రెండూ నీటి దాహం ఉన్న పంటలు. ప్రతిరోజూ ఒకే కూర తింటే ఒంట్లో కొన్ని పోషకాలు తగ్గినట్టు, నేలలో సేంద్రియ పదార్థం, జింక్ తగ్గాయి. యూరియా చౌక కాబట్టి ఎక్కువ వేస్తారు; నత్రజని, భాస్వరం, పొటాష్ సమతుల్యం 4:2:1 అంటారు, కానీ పాటించరు. వరి కోత తర్వాత గోధుమకు సమయం తక్కువ, అందుకే అక్టోబర్–నవంబర్‌లో గడ్డి కాల్చడం, ఢిల్లీలో పొగమంచు. పరిష్కారాలు: 2015 నుంచి వేప పూత యూరియా, నేల ఆరోగ్య కార్డు, కొయ్యకాళ్లలోనే గోధుమ విత్తే యంత్రాలు, పంట మార్పుకు ప్రోత్సాహం. (→ English: stubble burning; neem-coated urea · हिन्दी: पराली जलाना; नीम-लेपित यूरिया)

In exam EnglishHalf a century on, the costs are plainest where the change began. Two thirsty cereals, paddy in summer and wheat in winter, follow each other on the same fields year after year, so groundwater sinks and soils lose organic matter. Fertiliser use is lopsided: nitrogen from urea, the most heavily subsidised and so the cheapest, is applied far more than phosphorus and potash, against a balance usually given as 4:2:1 for nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium, and shortages of micronutrients such as zinc have spread. After combine harvesters cut the paddy, the short gap before wheat sowing leads many farmers to burn the loose straw in October and November, adding to the winter smog over Delhi and the northern plains. The responses include coating all urea with neem oil from 2015 to curb its misuse, soil health cards, machines that sow wheat straight into the paddy stubble, and incentives to move part of the paddy land to other crops.

దేశంలో సగం పొలాలకు సాగునీరు లేదు, వానే దిక్కు; పప్పులు, చిరుధాన్యాలు, నూనెగింజలు ఎక్కువ ఇక్కడే. 75 సెం.మీ. కన్నా తక్కువ వాన పడే చోట మెట్ట వ్యవసాయం: పడిన ప్రతి చుక్కను నేలలో దాచుకోవడమే లక్ష్యం. ఒక కొండ మీద పడిన వాన అంతా ఒకే వాగులోకి చేరుతుంది; ఆ మొత్తం ప్రాంతమే వాటర్‌షెడ్. వాటర్‌షెడ్ అభివృద్ధి అంటే పైనుంచి కిందికి: వాలుపై కట్టలు, కందకాలు, వాగుపై చెక్ డ్యామ్‌లు, ఫారం పాండ్లు, చెట్లు, మల్చింగ్. ఇంటి పైకప్పు నీటిని ట్యాంకులో పట్టినట్టే, ఊరంతా వానను పట్టడం. (→ English: dryland farming; watershed development · हिन्दी: शुष्क भूमि कृषि; जलसंभर विकास)

In exam EnglishAbout half of India's farmland has no irrigation and lives by the monsoon. These rain-fed lands grow most of the country's pulses, millets and oilseeds and much of its cotton. Geographers often separate dryland farming, practised where yearly rain is below about 75 cm and the whole aim is to hold on to soil moisture, from rain-fed farming in wetter areas where the rain is usually enough. The main tool for such land is the watershed, the entire area that drains to one stream or outlet. watershed development treats that area as a unit, from the ridge down to the valley: contour bunds and trenches on the slopes, check dams across the streams, farm ponds, trees on bare land, and mulching and hardy crops in the fields, so that rain soaks in instead of rushing off with the topsoil. The Integrated Watershed Management Programme of 2009–10 now runs as the watershed component of PMKSY under the Department of Land Resources.

సేంద్రియ వ్యవసాయం అంటే రసాయన ఎరువులు, పురుగుమందులు లేకుండా: కంపోస్టు, పచ్చిరొట్ట, పంట మార్పిడితో నేల బలం. బయటినుంచి కొనొచ్చు, కానీ సహజమైనవే. 'ఆర్గానిక్' అని అమ్మాలంటే సర్టిఫికెట్ కావాలి; ఎగుమతికి 2001 జాతీయ కార్యక్రమం, దేశంలో చౌకైన గ్రూపు పద్ధతి. 2015 పథకం రైతులు గుంపుగా మారితే సాయం. సిక్కిం జనవరి 2016లో దేశంలో మొదటి పూర్తి సేంద్రియ రాష్ట్రం. సిగరెట్ మానేసిన మొదటి రోజుల్లో ఇబ్బంది ఉన్నట్టు, మారిన మొదటి ఏళ్లలో దిగుబడి తగ్గొచ్చు. (→ English: organic farming · हिन्दी: जैविक खेती)

In exam EnglishA further direction is to farm with fewer chemicals. organic farming does without synthetic fertilisers and pesticides and keeps the soil fertile with compost, green manure, crop rotation and biological pest control; inputs may be bought from outside the farm so long as they come from natural sources. Produce can be sold as organic only after certification. The National Programme for Organic Production (2001), run through APEDA, covers exports, and a cheaper group-based Participatory Guarantee System serves buyers at home. The Paramparagat Krishi Vikas Yojana (2015) helps farmers who convert together in clusters. Sikkim was declared India's first fully organic state in January 2016, after phasing out chemical fertilisers and pesticides over more than a decade. Yields often fall in the first years after conversion.

ప్రకృతి వ్యవసాయం ఇంకో అడుగు ముందుకు: బయట నుంచి దాదాపు ఏమీ కొనరు. ఇంట్లో తోడు పెట్టి పెరుగు చేసుకున్నట్టే, రైతు ఆవు పేడ, మూత్రం, బెల్లం, పప్పు పిండి, గుప్పెడు మట్టితో జీవామృతం, బీజామృతం తయారు చేసుకుంటాడు. నేలపై ఆచ్ఛాదన, ఒకే చోట కలిపి పంటలు. సుభాష్ పాలేకర్ 'జీరో బడ్జెట్' పేరుతో ప్రచారం చేశారు; మన ఆంధ్రప్రదేశ్‌దే అతిపెద్ద రాష్ట్ర కార్యక్రమం. 25 నవంబర్ 2024న కేంద్రం రూ. 2,481 కోట్లతో జాతీయ మిషన్. తేడా: సేంద్రియం కొన్నవి వాడొచ్చు, సర్టిఫికెట్ ఉంటుంది; ప్రకృతి వ్యవసాయం పొలంలో చేసినవే. (→ English: natural farming · हिन्दी: प्राकृतिक खेती)

In exam Englishnatural farming goes a step further and buys almost nothing from outside. Farmers prepare their own inputs from cow dung and urine, jaggery, pulse flour and a handful of soil, such as jeevamrit to feed the soil's microbes and beejamrit to treat seed; they keep the ground covered with mulch and grow several crops together on the same plot. The approach was popularised in India by Subhash Palekar as 'zero budget natural farming', and Andhra Pradesh has run the largest state programme. On 25 November 2024 the Union Cabinet approved a separate National Mission on Natural Farming with an outlay of Rs 2,481 crore, meant to reach about one crore farmers through clusters and village bio-input resource centres. The difference to keep clear is simple: organic farming may use bought organic inputs and is certified, whereas natural farming depends on inputs made on the farm itself.

నాలుగు భాగాలు కలిపితే ఒకే కథ: భూమి, కాలం ఏం పండించొచ్చో చెబుతాయి; పంటల భాగాలు ఎక్కడో చెబుతాయి; నీరు, సాంకేతికత ఎంత అనేది చెబుతాయి. భూగర్భ జలం హరిత విప్లవానికి ప్రాణం పోసింది, ఓడల కోసం ఎదురుచూసే దేశాన్ని బియ్యం ఎగుమతి చేసే దేశంగా మార్చింది. కానీ వాయువ్యంలో నీటి కొరత, అలసిన నేల; వర్షాధార సగం దేశానికి తక్కువ లాభం. కొత్త దారులు, అంటే డ్రిప్, వాటర్‌షెడ్, సేంద్రియ, ప్రకృతి వ్యవసాయం, లాభాన్ని కాపాడుతూ నష్టాన్ని సరిచేసే ప్రయత్నం. (→ English: Green Revolution · हिन्दी: हरित क्रांति)

In exam EnglishTaken together, the four parts tell a single story. Land and seasons, from Part 1, decide what can be grown; the crops of Parts 2 and 3 show where; and water and technology, the subject of this part, largely decide how much. Irrigation, above all from groundwater, made the Green Revolution possible and turned India from a country waiting for food ships into one with large grain stocks and rice to export. The same model has left the north-west short of water and its soils overworked, while the rain-fed half of the country gained the least. The newer directions, saving water through drip and sprinklers, healing dry land through watersheds, and cutting chemicals through organic and natural farming, try to keep the gains while repairing the damage.

Exam traps

WELLS AND TUBE WELLS together are the largest source of irrigation, not canals; canals come second and tanks are a small share.
TANKS are typical of the hard-rock SOUTHERN PLATEAU (Tamil Nadu, Telangana, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka), not of the alluvial northern plains, where tube wells and canals lead.
CGWB categories go by stage of extraction: safe up to 70%, semi-critical 70–90%, critical 90–100%, OVER-EXPLOITED above 100%. Over-exploited does not mean 'dry'; it means more is drawn than is recharged.
Canal irrigation can RAISE the water table and cause waterlogging and salinity; it is tube wells that LOWER it.
The Green Revolution began with WHEAT in the irrigated north-west in the mid-1960s; rice followed later. Pulses, oilseeds and millets were largely left out.
The HYV package worked only WITH assured irrigation, chemical fertiliser and pesticides; the seed alone was not enough. The term 'Green Revolution' was coined by William Gaud in 1968.
ORGANIC farming may use bought organic inputs and needs certification; NATURAL farming relies on inputs made on the farm (jeevamrit, beejamrit). Sikkim (January 2016) is the first fully ORGANIC state.
PMKSY (2015) has the slogans 'Har Khet Ko Pani' and 'Per Drop More Crop'; Per Drop More Crop is its MICRO-IRRIGATION part, and watershed development is a separate component under the Department of Land Resources.

Recap

Sources of irrigation: canals, wells and tube wells, tanks and others; wells and tube wells together water more than half of the net irrigated area.
Groundwater leads because the farmer controls the timing; canal water comes by turns and runs short at the tail end; cheap farm power helped.
Canals lead in the northern plains and east-coast deltas, tube wells in the alluvial north-west, tanks on the hard-rock southern plateau; roughly half the net sown area is irrigated.
CGWB stages of extraction: safe ≤70%, semi-critical 70–90%, critical 90–100%, over-exploited >100%; stress is worst in Punjab, Haryana, Rajasthan, Delhi and hard-rock south.
Drip suits widely spaced crops and allows fertigation; sprinklers suit sandy or uneven land; PMKSY (2015): Har Khet Ko Pani, Per Drop More Crop.
Green Revolution: HYV seed (Borlaug's dwarf wheat, IRRI's IR8 rice) plus fertiliser, water and pesticides, backed by the APC and FCI (1965); named by William Gaud in 1968.
Gains: food self-sufficiency and grain stocks; imbalances by region, crop and farmer; BGREI (2010–11) for the eastern rice lands.
Costs: falling water tables, lopsided fertiliser use against the 4:2:1 NPK norm, zinc deficiency, stubble burning; responses include neem-coated urea (2015) and crop diversification.
Dryland farming (below about 75 cm of rain) and watershed development from ridge to valley; IWMP (2009–10) now the watershed component of PMKSY.
Organic farming (certified; NPOP 2001, PGS, PKVY 2015; Sikkim fully organic in January 2016) versus natural farming (farm-made inputs; National Mission approved 25 November 2024).

Practice questions

Q1. Which one of the following is the largest source of net irrigated area in India?

Canals
Tanks
Wells and tube wells
Lift irrigation from rivers

Show answer

Answer: C. Wells and tube wells

Wells and tube wells together water more than half of the net irrigated area. Canals are a distant second, tanks are a small and shrinking share, and river-lift schemes fall in the small 'other sources' group.

Q2. Tank irrigation is most common in the southern peninsular plateau. Which of the following explain this?
1. The hard crystalline rock stores little groundwater.
2. Most streams are seasonal and dry up after the rains.
3. Thick alluvial deposits make boring wells difficult.
Select the correct answer using the code given below.

1 and 2 only
2 and 3 only
1 and 3 only
1, 2 and 3

Show answer

Answer: A. 1 and 2 only

Statements 1 and 2 are correct. Statement 3 is wrong: thick alluvium is a feature of the northern plains, and it makes boring EASY, which is why tube wells lead there. So every option containing 3 is wrong.

Q3. Under the Central Ground Water Board's categorisation, an assessment unit whose annual extraction is 95 percent of its annual extractable groundwater recharge is classified as:

Safe
Semi-critical
Critical
Over-exploited

Show answer

Answer: C. Critical

Between 90 and 100 percent is 'critical'. 'Safe' is up to 70 percent and 'semi-critical' 70 to 90 percent, both below 95; 'over-exploited' begins only above 100 percent.

Q4. Consider the following statements about the Green Revolution in India:
1. It first succeeded with wheat in the irrigated north-west.
2. Its high-yielding varieties gave high yields even without assured irrigation or fertiliser.
Which of the statements given above is/are correct?

1 only
2 only
Both 1 and 2
Neither 1 nor 2

Show answer

Answer: A. 1 only

Statement 1 is correct. Statement 2 is wrong: HYV seed pays off only with assured water and heavy fertiliser, which is exactly why the change began in irrigated areas. So '2 only' and 'both' accept a wrong statement, and 'neither' rejects a correct one.

Q5. Match List I with List II:
List I (Scheme or programme) — List II (Main aim)
A. Per Drop More Crop — 1. Cluster-based organic farming
B. Paramparagat Krishi Vikas Yojana — 2. Micro-irrigation
C. Bringing Green Revolution to Eastern India — 3. Ridge-to-valley treatment of land and water
D. Watershed Development Component of PMKSY — 4. Raising rice output in the eastern states
Select the correct answer using the code given below.

A-2, B-1, C-4, D-3
A-1, B-2, C-4, D-3
A-2, B-1, C-3, D-4
A-3, B-1, C-4, D-2

Show answer

Answer: A. A-2, B-1, C-4, D-3

Per Drop More Crop is the micro-irrigation part of PMKSY (A-2), PKVY supports organic farming in clusters (B-1), BGREI targets the eastern rice lands (C-4) and the watershed component treats land from ridge to valley (D-3). The second option swaps A and B, the third swaps C and D, and the fourth gives Per Drop More Crop to watersheds.

Q6. Consider the following statements:
1. Sikkim was declared India's first fully organic state in January 2016.
2. Natural farming, unlike certified organic farming, relies mainly on inputs prepared on the farm, such as jeevamrit.
Which of the statements given above is/are correct?

1 only
2 only
Both 1 and 2
Neither 1 nor 2

Show answer

Answer: C. Both 1 and 2

Both statements are correct: Sikkim became fully organic in January 2016, and natural farming depends on farm-made inputs while organic farming may use bought organic inputs and is certified. '1 only' and '2 only' each reject a correct statement, and 'neither' rejects both.

Q7. Which one of the following is NOT generally counted among the ecological costs of the Green Revolution in north-western India?

Falling groundwater tables
Deficiency of micronutrients such as zinc
Burning of paddy straw before wheat sowing
Expansion of shifting cultivation

Show answer

Answer: D. Expansion of shifting cultivation

Shifting cultivation is a hill and forest practice of the north-east and central tribal belts and has nothing to do with the Green Revolution. Falling water tables, zinc deficiency and stubble burning are all well-known costs of the rice–wheat system of the north-west.

Q8. Consider the following statements about micro-irrigation:
1. Drip irrigation is especially suited to widely spaced crops such as fruit trees.
2. Fertiliser can be supplied through drip lines, a practice known as fertigation.
3. Sprinkler irrigation is unsuitable for sandy soils.
Which of the statements given above are correct?

1 and 2 only
2 and 3 only
1 and 3 only
1, 2 and 3

Show answer

Answer: A. 1 and 2 only

Statements 1 and 2 are correct. Statement 3 is wrong: sprinklers are well suited to sandy or uneven land, where flooding a field wastes water. So every option containing 3 is wrong.

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Sources

Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare: Land Use Statistics at a Glance (net irrigated area by source); Pradhan Mantri Krishi Sinchayee Yojana (Per Drop More Crop) guidelines; Paramparagat Krishi Vikas Yojana; National Mission on Natural Farming — https://agriwelfare.gov.in
Central Ground Water Board, Ministry of Jal Shakti: National Compilation on Dynamic Ground Water Resources of India (categorisation of assessment units) — https://cgwb.gov.in
Indian Council of Agricultural Research: history of high-yielding varieties; Central Research Institute for Dryland Agriculture on rain-fed farming and moisture conservation — https://icar.org.in
Department of Land Resources, Ministry of Rural Development: Integrated Watershed Management Programme and the Watershed Development Component of PMKSY — https://dolr.gov.in
Press Information Bureau: Cabinet approval of PMKSY (2015) and of the National Mission on Natural Farming (25 November 2024); 100 per cent neem-coated urea (2015); Sikkim declared a fully organic state (January 2016) — https://pib.gov.in
APEDA, Ministry of Commerce and Industry: National Programme for Organic Production (2001) — https://apeda.gov.in