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• MI scheme being capital intensive, its operation and maintenance require guidance and AGRICULTURE AND ALLIED SECTORS
technical support to get the desired result. Adequate technical training on the operation/

aftersales/ maintenance are highly essential.
• Revision/ enhancement of the subsidy portion by the Government will attract the masses

to the technique.

Source: PEO, Planning Commission, January 2014.

Ground Water Development

2.116 Ground water makes up about 20% of world’s fresh water supply which makes it an important
resource that can act as a natural storage that can buffer against shortage of surface water in times
of drought. Groundwater has rapidly emerged to occupy a dominant place in India’s agriculture and
food security and it accounts for over 60 percent of the irrigated area in the country. The share of
groundwater in the irrigation potential varies from over 50 percent in states such as Uttar Pradesh,
Madhya Pradesh, Jammu and Kashmir, and Manipur, to less than 33 percent in the case of Kerala,
Haryana, and Assam.

2.117 The total Annual Replenishable ground water resources of the Country have been estimated
as 431 billion cubic meter (BCM). Keeping 35 BCM for natural discharge, the net annual ground
water availability for the entire Country is 396 BCM. The Annual ground water draft is 243 BCM out of
which 221 BCM is for irrigation use and 22 BCM is for domestic & industrial use. As per Ground water
resource data 2009, in the state of Kerala, the total annual ground water availability is 6.620 Billion
Cubic Meter (BCM) and the net ground water availability is 6.029 BCM. The annual ground water
draft for all uses in the state is 2.81 BCM out of which 1.304 BMC is for irrigation purpose. 3.021 BCM
is the net Ground water availability for future irrigation development in the state.

2.118 The stage of Ground Water Development in the Country is 61% whereas it is 47% for Kerala
with Kasargode and Wayanad ranking maximum (71 %) and minimum (17 %) respectively. Details
are given in Appendix 2.58.

2.119 During the period 2013-14, an amount of ` 16.00 crore was expended against the outlay of
` 12.06 crore for groundwater development. Noteworthy achievements were made in areas such as
investigation & development, groundwater conservation & recharge and Rajiv Gandhi drinking water
mission. Phase II of Hydrology Project, an external aided project, has been completed on May 2014.
The detailed physical achievement during the year under report is given in Appendix 2.59.

Performance of Irrigation sector during 2013-14

2.120 The total outlay and expenditure of irrigation sector during 2013-14 annual plan was
` 505.14 crore and ` 226.74 crore respectively. Of the total expenditure, minor irrigation
contributed a major share ( ` 97.43 crore) followed by major and medium irrigation ( ` 87.24 crore)
Details are given in Appendix.2.60. Overall performance of the Irrigation sector was not promising
during the previous plan period. Expenditure is low in major and medium irrigation schemes due to
non implementation of AIBP schemes and Mullapperiyar project. Besides this, poor performance
of DRIP, Pambar basin projects, slow pace of progress of Kuttanad package etc. aggravated the
situation.

Economic Review 2014