Politicians in India firmly believe that the woes of farmers can be solved with freebies: free electricity, free water, farm loan waivers, fertilisers and seed subsidies, minimum support prices, etc. Consequently, China's rice productivity is close to 7 tonnes per hectare versus India's 4. Clearly, modern methods of irrigation — drip irrigation and sprinkler irrigation — have many advantages over conventional methods. When water is free, farmers have little incentive make investments to conserve it.The point is the policy focus of Indian agriculture needs to shift. Instead of promising free water, which cannot last forever, GoI needs to ensure that farmers use modern technologies that minimise water use.

Source: Economic Times January 07, 2018 16:41 UTC