Sustaining Groundwater Irrigation

India’s annual groundwater extraction is 239.16 bcm compared to the total annual groundwater recharge of 437.60 bcm. Stage of groundwater extraction (as on 2022) is 60%. Out of the total 7089 groundwater assessment units in the country, about 14% are “Over-exploited”, 4% are “Critical”, and 12% are “Semi-critical” units. Irrigated agriculture accounts for about 87% of total annual groundwater extracted. As on 2020–21, the average failure rate (drying up) of open dugwells is about 56% and borewells is 65% in critical and over-exploited areas indicating the negative externalities in irrigated agriculture. It is predicted that the demand of energy may rise between 3.2 and 4.9% by 2030. At national level, groundwater pumping by electric and diesel pumpsets with an average pumping of 1600 h/year accounts for about 14.38 million tonnes of carbon emissions. Groundwater recharge is affected by widespread impact of climate change. Managed Aquifer Recharge (MAR) is a promising adaptation measure. Water conservation through watershed development programme, adoption of micro irrigation, crop diversification towards less water intensive crops, addressing water–energy nexus and use of solar and wind energy for pumping, regulatory measures, and groundwater governance are suggested in sustaining the groundwater irrigation in the country.