Agriculture Union and State (Concurrent)Cost not yet known
Water-efficient irrigation where groundwater is falling
The problem
Groundwater levels are declining in many agricultural districts, and current cropping and irrigation patterns accelerate the decline.
Why it matters
A district that exhausts its groundwater loses its agricultural economy permanently, not temporarily.
Proposed solution
Prioritise micro-irrigation support in districts with documented groundwater decline, and publish groundwater trend data at block level in plain language.
How it would be implemented
Advocate for targeting existing schemes by measured groundwater stress rather than uniformly, and publish the underlying data so the targeting is checkable.
Risks, and what we would do about them
Risk
Changing cropping patterns affects farmer income in the short term.
Mitigation
Never advocate a cropping change without a costed transition path. Say so plainly where no such path exists.