Government of Tamil Nadu

Department of Economics and Statistics

Season and Crop Report 2005-06

3.SOURCES OF IRRIGATION

Irrigation is the artificial application of water to the soil for growth of plants.

3.1 Sources of Irrigation

Water is an important determinant factor of production of crops in agriculture sector. Intensive and extensive cultivation of land depend mainly on the availability of water. Medium and minor irrigation schemes are implemented in the state for augmenting the irrigation for agriculture. The various sources of irrigation are canals, tanks, tube wells, Open wells and springs. The number of sources of irrigation are furnished in the following table.

Sources No.
1. CANALS a) Govt. 2393
                     b) Private 2
2. RESERVOIRS 71
3. TANKS  
    a) Ayacut above 40 ha. 7933
    b) Ayacut below 40 ha. 32386
Total 40319
4. WELLS  
    A) Tube Wells & Others  
        a) Govt. 1181
        b) Private 286123
Total 287304
    B) OPEN WELLS  
       a) Govt. 670
       b) Private 1620721
Total 1621391
TOTAL NO. OF WELLS (A+B) 1908695

3.2 Area Irrigated

The net area irrigated by different sources during 05-06 was 2919545 ha as against 2637198 ha in 04-05 showing an increase of 282347 ha or 10.71% over the previous year. The net area irrigated during 05-06 constituted 55.7% of the net area sown in the state. Villupuram district is at the top with 243141 ha net area irrigated. However the highest percentage of the net area irrigated to the net area sown was recorded in Thiruvarur District with 96.3% followed by Kancheepuram District with 88.7% whereas the lowest percentage was recorded in The Nilgiris district with 0.9%. The following table shows the net area irrigated by various sources compared with 04-05.

( in ha)

Sources Net area irrigated
05-06 04-05
Area % Area %
1 CANALS(including System tanks) 800161 27.4 753819 28.6
2 TANKS 575352 19.7 465355 17.6
3 WELLS 1536808 52.6 1400394 53.1
  a. Tube wells 381441 13.1 315629 12.0
  b. Open wells 1155367 39.5 1084765 41.1
4 OTHERS 7224 0.3 17630 0.7
TOTAL 2919545 100 2637198 100

3.2.1 Canals(Including System Tanks)

Canals are the major source of irrigation in Tamilnadu. As the system tanks get supply from a permanent storage like reservoirs, dams etc. the area iirigated by this source is classified under canals. During 05-06, Canal irrigation accounted for 27.4% of the net area irrigated by all sources in the state. The net area irrigated by canals including system tanks during the year under review was 800161 ha as against 753819 ha in 04-05 recording an increase of 46342 ha i.e. 6.1%. The net area irrigated by canals is the highest in Thiruvarur district with 147564 ha (18.7%) followed by Thanjavur district with 134634 ha

(17.4%) and Nagapattinam district with 125014 ha (15.7%) of the total net area irrigated by canals in the State.

3.2.2 Tanks (Non-System Tanks Only)

The non-system tanks which are fed partly from their independent catchment areas and partly from the diversion of river water and jungle streams depend fully on rain. The net area irrigated by non-system tanks during the year 05-06 is 575352 ha as against 465355 ha in 04-05 registering an increase of 109997 ha or 23.6% over previous year. The extent of area irrigated by tanks during the year is the highest in Sivagangai district with 12.7% followed by Pudukkottai district with 12.5%, Villupuram district with 10.6% and Kancheepuram district with 10.6%.

3.2.3 Wells

Wells are the principal source of irrigation in Tamilnadu.During the year under review, open wells and tube-wells continued to be the principal sources of irrigation. The net area irrigated by openwells and tube-wells together accounted for 1536808 ha (about 52.6 % of the total net area irrigated) in 05-06 as against 1400394 ha in 04-05 showing an increase of 136414 ha i.e. 9.7%. The net area irrigated by wells during the year 05-06 was the highest in Villupuram district with 11.41% of the total net area irrigated by the wells in the state followed by 7.5% in Coimbatore district and 7.0% in Thiruvannamalai district.

DISTRICTWISE DISTRIBUTION OF NET AREA IRRIGATED BY SOURCES

(in %)

DISTRICT Canals Tanks Wells Others
% to the State % to all Sources in the district % to the State % to all Sources in the district % to the State % to all Sources in the district % to the State % to all Sources in the district
1. Chennai 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0
2. Kancheepuram 0.1 0.5 10.6 50.3 3.9 49.2 0.0 0.0
3. Thiruvallur 0.3 3.0 3.1 19.5 4.6 76.1 17.9 1.4
4. Cuddalore 5.8 30.1 1.2 4.6 6.6 65.2 3.2 0.1
5. Villupuram 0.8 2.7 10.6 25.2 11.4 72.1 1.4 0.0
6. Vellore 0.1 0.4 3.7 20.4 5.3 78.8 6.2 0.4
7. Thiruvannamalai 0.4 1.9 8.7 31.3 7.0 66.7 0.0 0.0
8. Salem 0.3 2.1 0.3 1.7 6.1 96.1 0.0 0.0
9. Namakkal 0.6 6.6 0.1 1.1 4.5 92.3 0.0 0.0
10. Dharmapuri 0.9 10.3 1.1 9.7 3.5 80.0 0.1 0.0
11. Krishnagiri 0.4 6.0 1.6 18.6 2.3 72.5 19.9 2.9
12. Coimbatore 6.7 31.7 0.1 0.3 7.5 68.0 0.0 0.0
13. Erode 11.5 57.0 0.0 0.1 4.4 41.6 27.0 1.2
14. Tiruchirapalli 4.0 29.4 1.5 8.0 4.5 62.6 0.0 0.0
15. Karur 2.0 29.5 0.1 1.1 2.5 69.4 0.0 0.0
16. Perambalur 1.2 13.8 1.6 13.8 3.1 72.3 1.0 0.1
17. Pudukottai 1.3 9.7 12.5 65.3 1.8 24.9 0.0 0.0
18. Thanjavur 16.8 81.3 0.1 0.3 2.0 18.4 0.0 0.0
19. Thiruvarur 18.4 100.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0
20. Nagapattinam 15.6 100.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0
21. Madurai 4.6 40.1 3.2 19.8 2.4 40.1 0.0 0.0
22. Theni 1.5 22.0 0.3 3.5 2.7 74.5 0.0 0.0
23. Dindigul 1.0 7.5 0.6 3.4 6.0 88.1 13.2 0.9
24. Ramanathapuram 0.0 0.0 9.9 83.2 0.7 16.8 0.0 0.0
25. Virudhunagar 0.0 0.0 4.6 47.7 1.9 52.3 0.0 0.0
26. Sivagangai 0.0 0.0 12.7 81.9 1.1 18.1 0.0 0.0
27. Tirunelveli 2.2 15.8 8.2 42.3 3.0 41.7 3.4 0.2
28. Thoothukudi 1.4 28.1 1.8 25.6 1.2 46.3 0.0 0.0
29. The Nilgiris 0.0 0.9 0.0 0.0 0.0 67.2 3.3 31.9
30. Kanyakumari 2.0 57.5 1.7 35.3 0.1 6.4 3.3 0.9
STATE 100.0 27.4 100.0 19.7 100.0 52.6 100.0 0.3

3.3 Gross Area Irrigated

Gross area irrigated includes the net area irrigated and the area irrigated more than once. Gross area irrigated by all sources during 05-06 is 3396700 ha as against 3087108 ha during 04-05 registering an increase of 309592 ha or 10.0% over the previous year 04-05 due to better rainfall. The actual rainfall during the year 05-06 is 1304.1 m.m as against the normal rainfall of 958.5 m.m.

3.4 Irrigation Intensity

The irrigation intensity (The ratio of gross area irrigated to net area irrigated) is 1.16 for the state during 05-06. The ratio is significantly high in the districts of Kanyakumari (1.40), Thiruvallur (1.40) Thiruvannamalai (1.36), Kancheepuram (1.27), Tirunelveli (1.26) and Nagapattinam (1.22)


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