Sources of Future Growth in Indian Irrigated Agriculture
This paper assumes that in India forces will gather strength in the next ten to twenty years until the expansion of irrigated area becomes less important as a source of growth in agricultural output other kinds of changes within the irrigation sector. It also assumes that the subsector of irrigated agriculture will necessarily continue to shoulder a major share of the burden of increasing agricultural production. To explore the implications of this notion, this paper first reviews past sources of irrigation-related growth in Indian irrigated agriculture and the nature of remaining potential for expansion. It then speculates on potential sources of future growth.