Minor Irrigation Census (MIC)
Minor Irrigation Census (MIC) — a compendium of borewells, tubewells, and other privately owned irrigation sources by farmers.
It was conducted by the Union Jal Shakthi Ministry.
Findings of the Minor Irrigation Census (MIC)
The latest report is sixth edition of the report reflect irrigation trends in 2017-18.
The latest edition of the Minor Irrigation Census (MIC) finds that electricity is the dominant source of power to extract water, over diesel and wind and solar energy.
While the use of electricity showed a quantum jump from powering only 56% of sources in 2011 to 70% in 2017.
The report shows it as powering 76% of the sources — a slower growth rate.
This electrification of groundwater withdrawal corresponds to a rise in the use of tubewells and borewells that are capable of extracting water at greater depths.
While ‘dugwells’ or ponds that can draw water from a maximum depth of 15 metres remain the dominant source of groundwater, their number has declined.
The number of ‘shallow’ tubewells, capable of drawing water from up to 35 metres, too have declined.
However ‘medium-sized’ wells — capable of withdrawing water from up to 70 metres — grown.
Deep wells (beyond 70 m) increased.
Implications of the report
Excessive groundwater withdrawal has been a matter of long-standing concern.
The report does not discuss the causes for the increase of more powerful, deep-reaching tubewells.
The groundwater situation varies across the country.
The State governments announce schemes giving farmers incentives or access to loans to buy such tubewells.
However the lower growth in electrification is also likely to be a result of greater emphasis on energy-efficient water extraction.
Overall, 23.14 million minor irrigation (MI) schemes were reported in the country.
Out of all MI schemes, 21.93 million (94.8%) were for groundwater and 1.21 million (5.2%) for surface-water extraction.
Uttar Pradesh had the largest number of MI schemes in the country (17.2%) followed by Maharashtra (15.4%), Madhya Pradesh (9.9%) and Tamil Nadu (9.1%).
Leading States in groundwater schemes are Uttar Pradesh, Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, and Telangana.
Maharashtra, Karnataka, Telangana, Odisha and Jharkhand have the highest share in surface-water schemes.
The number of MI schemes increased by about 1.42 million between the fifth and sixth editions.
Most of the schemes (96.6%) were privately owned and small and marginal farmers having less than two hectares of land owned the majority of them.
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