Introduction

Water is the most vital resource for the existence of life on earth. It is indispensable for the existence of plant and animal eco system and forms on essential element in the development of economic activities. No other natural resources have had such on overwhelming influence on human history. World oceans cover about three-fourths of earth’s surface. However, freshwater constitutes a very small proportion of this enormous quantity. About 2.7% of the total water available on the earth is fresh water of which about 75.2% lies frozen in Polar Regions and another 22.6% is present as groundwater. The rest is available in lakes, rivers atmosphere moisture, soil and vegetation. What is effectively available for consumption and other uses is a small proportion of the quantity available in rivers, lakes and groundwater. According to world health organization, less than 1% of the world’s fresh water (or) 0.007% of all the water on earth is readily available for human world consumption. As the human population increases the demand on freshwater resources will continue to grow. (K.P. CHINNAN, 2004)

Without water life is impossible. It has always been an attraction to not only scientists but to poets and philosophers also. One of the main sources of it is earth that is groundwater. The increase in the use of water had led to the development of different new methods of groundwater exploration. Over exploitation of groundwater has created many problems including continuous decline in the groundwater level.

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TABLE 1.1

WATER REQUIREMENTS FOR DIFFERENT USES

    (Quantity cubic km)

Water requirements for different uses in India are projected to the years 2010,2025 and 2050 respectively in table1.1.

The table1.1 implies that irrigation (surface and ground water) alone accounted for 83% of the total water use in 1997-98 on the demand side and it is likely to slow down to 69.5% by the year 2050 due to the impact of technological advancement in irrigation. In particular, demand for water on domestic, industrial, and thermal power generation is expected to increase rather sharply. Demand for industrial uses is likely to go up to 81 cubic km by the year 2050 from 30 cubic km in 1997-98. Water requirements for domestic uses has been estimated to be 111 cubic km in 2050 which is almost three fold increase on demand side from 30 cubic km in1997-98. The dependence is more on groundwater where there is a competition on exploitation leading to the depletion of the water and encountering drought situation. The limited groundwater sources have not been able to keep pace with recharge and discharge to renew the balance.

Water resources of a country constitute one of its most important economic assets. Apart from human and animal consumption, water is vitally needed for agricultural production. There are a number of other beneficial purposes for which water is controlled and regulated. These include hydro electrical power generation, industrial uses, development of recreation facilities, etc. The pattern of water resources development for various beneficial uses differs from country to country, depending on its climatic and physiographic conditions and socio-economic development. In India, more than 90% of the total water usage is at present accounted for irrigation including associated hydro electric generation this is so because of 70% of India’s population is depend on agriculture; and rain-fall being highly seasonal and erratic, successful agriculture is not possible without irrigation. While the requirements and priorities for industrial and domestic use of water will undoubtedly increase over the course of years, irrigation may still continue to claim the maximum share of water resources development.

“Water is a major source in economic growth. If development of water resources has to be sustainable equitable and community based, traditional systems have to be rejuvenated and developed. Observations indicate that farmers practices are ecologically sound and should be supplemented and improved by modern technology. Indigenous systems may not work in every situation, but the integration of local and External technologies can result in appropriate solutions. Future planning must involve a proper blending of indigenous and recommended technologies.”

The amount of water available per person in India has decreased steadily from 3450 cm in 1951 to 1250 cm in 1999.According to the minister of water resources, it is expected to decrease further to 760 cm per person in 2050.It could be predicted with complete certainty that the World in the year 2050 will be largely different from what it is today. Water sector will undergo dramatic changes in the years to come in order to keep with the advances in technology.

The oceans contain unlimited supply of water, fresh water for human use is fragile and finite. The demand for fresh water continues to grow with the growth of population. The use of fresh water to agricultural, industrial, domestic and other uses create competing demands leading to stresses and strains both natural and manmade within the country. The available fresh surface water is a river and a lake is estimated at 0.008% of the world’s water. In this fresh water resources, groundwater segment alone accounts for 30% only. Hence it is clear that paucity of this vital resource makes the situation all the more critical.

In recent years, global discussions on water scarcity have been dominated by considerable debate on the true value of water. This is because one of the reasons for misallocation, misuse and degradation of water is that it is not priced to its true value (cvg 1997:13). There is general endorsement of the statement that water is a social, economic and environmental good because of the multiple roles it performs. But very little consensus exists on how it should be treated in different contexts and what are its implications for governance and management of the resources, including inter sectoral allocation, pricing and efficiency of use. This is particularly true for ground water. Even in a market economy like US, ground water is usually considered as either an invaluable good or as a ‘free’ good. (cvg 1997). The underlying premise is that farmers who own tube wells enjoy unlimited access to the resources, are not fully confronted with the opportunity cost of using water due to heavily subsidized electricity, and direct water for growing crops that are economically inefficient. The other related research questions are negative consequence of groundwater depletion on the economics of farming significant enough to continue subsidized electricity for groundwater pumping.

The annual water precipitation of India is estimated to be 4,000 cubic kilometer, including snowfall. However, the average annual natural flow available works out to be about 1,880 cubic km. Out of this only 1,140 cubic km can be put to beneficial use by conventional methods of development due to topographical hydrological and other constraints. Presently, utilization of water is 552 cubic km-362 cubic km of surface water and 190 cubic km of ground water. Demand for water for diverse purposes such as domestic, municipal, agricultural, navigational, power generation etc, has been constantly increasing over the years-a natural outcome of the nations growth process.

The total demand has been projected to grow to 800 cubic km by the Year 2005 and to 1050 cubic km by 2025.The demand by the industrial sector is to go up from 3% in 1990 to 4% in 2005 and to move up to 11.5% in 2025. The share of irrigation demand is projected to decline from 84% in 2000 to 73% in 2025. Thus, the growing demand for water in the next 20 years or so is going to add tremendous pressure on the water supply systems in the country. Moreover, the accelerated increase in the demand for industrial water use in the industrial sector. Irrigation water comes mainly from surface water and groundwater resources. Most of the irrigation is done using either of these sources of water.

Irrigation as the main catalyst of agricultural development in India, accounts for the largest share in the total investment in the agricultural sector. In the five-year plans, investment in the irrigation has accounted for 8 to 10% of the total public investment. Till 1990 more than Rs.60,000/- crore (at 1998-99 price) was spent on irrigation projects and irrigation potentials during this period increased by 22.14 million hectares. Consequently, the irrigated area, which constituted 17.49% of GCA in 1951-52, raised to 33.30% of GCA I n 1997-98. From the point of the view of the magnitude, the development can be regarded as satisfactory but from the point of view of nature of development it is not satisfactory.

TABLE 1.2

LAND REQUIREMENTS FOR DIFFERENT USES

CURRENT AND PROJECTION FOR 2020 AND 2025 (in mha)

Source: CWC for current land area; projections by authors.

* This includes orchards and areas with low tree density, which are not, classified forests and which yield fruits or NTFP, primary for local use.

** Out of this, area actually under cultivation is 142 mha and this is expected to go down to 140 mha in the future.

People centered and managed water shed development in India’s rain fed areas has to be accorded the highest priority in order to contribute to the vital national goals of employment generation, food production and food security. The production of food grains had increased from around 50 million tones in the fifties to about 200 million tones by the year 2000 but this will have to be raised to around 300 million tones by the year 2020. out of the total cultivable of 195 million hectare (irrigated area 54 mha – which may go up to a maximum of 65 mha by 2020- and the remaining 141 mha being rain fed area).For  the past two decades another 42 mha of potentially cultivable land exists in the form of  waste land and fallow land while 11 mha of cultivable land exists as  orchard and tree covered land. This 53 mha of cultivable land needs urgent attention for water shed development and for the production of the fuel, fodder, timber and food over all, a total rain fed area of 141 mha at present needs more attention for water shed development. This is expected to come down to 110 mha in 2050,as per the projections made in         table 1.2.

In this background an attempt was made to analysis the “Impact of using ground water irrigation on cropping pattern in selected village in Coimbatore district” with the following objectives

1. To study the development of irrigation potentials created in India.
2. To study the irrigation capacity in Coimbatore district.
3. To study the socio economic status of the selected farmers.
4. The study on ground water   development and farm level in selected village
5. To study the suggestions from suitable policy measures based on the irrigation project.

Hypothesis:

The hypothesis studied in this study include:

1.           Economic well being of the farmers was dependent on agricultural production.

2.           There has been a declaration in ground water irrigation during the study period.

3.           The socio economic status of the farmers was improved by the ground water irrigation.

4.           Ground water irrigation of the farmers was independent of socio economic variables.

5.           Over utilization of the ground water irrigation were related to the socio economic characteristics of the farm size.

Conclusion:

This study was done on ground water irrigation in Theethipalayam village is expected to be use to the ground water to meet the farmers need, and make them ground water irrigation more effectively.