This set of chapters resulted from a workshop organized by the International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI) and held in April 1988 in Ootacamund, Tamil Nadu, India.

Many irrigation systems in India perform at levels far below their design standard, and the need to improve the performance of existing irrigation systems is therefore urgent.

Eastern India had been a region of iffluence and the center of Indian prosperity for long periods ii history. After almost uninterrupted progress and prosperity, a gray period in its history seems to have set in about 1200 A.D.

Although India possesses 4.9 percent of the total average annual runoff in the rivers of the world, the per capita water availability from surface as, well as groundwater sources is assessed at 3,200 cubic meters Jm3) per year, compared with the a

Several recent studies analyze the financial aspects of public irrigation systems in Asia.

Indian agriculture has historically been vulnerable to floods and droughts, primarily associated with the monsoon.

The new biochemical technology of crop farming has had uneven success in India. In view of the continental diversity of Indian agriculture this is hardly surprising.

This chapter is presented in two parts. The first presents a brief overview of the performance of Indian irrigation systems and specifically discusses the use and limitations of performance indicators of an irrigation system.

Irrigation development is one of the foundations of India's strategy for agricultural growth. The growth in area irrigated through both public and private investment in the past three decades is impressive.

Different official documents and reports have treated eastern India differently.

This chapter presents an empirical analysis of the interaction between canal irrigation and groundwater systems in canal commands.

The chapters presented in this section identify needs and potential for groundwater development and conjunctive use, with special reference to eastern India. The first chapter by T. Prasad and I. D.

Three chapters are presented in this section. The first, by C. Gopinath and A. H. Kalro, reviews the sustainabi1ity of some recent efforts to improve the management of Indian irrigation systems, largely below the watercourse outlet.

If we are to find lessons in sustainable managerial improvements for irrigation by studying innovations 1 rom domestic water supply, we must begin by recognizing the similarities and dissimilarities in the two sectors (or two branches of the same

Tank irrigation systems in southern India are centuries old. They account for over 30 percent of th( total irrigated area of Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, and Andhra Pradesh states.

India, in common with the rest of South Asia, has seen rapid strides in irrigation development in the past few decades.

Modern Indian irrigation development goes back in time at least to the construction of the Western Yamuna Canal near Delhi in 1355 by Ferozshah Tughlaq.

The five chapters presented in this section provide case studies of the performance of irrigation systems.

The expansion and improvement of irrigation facilities occupy a central place in India's strategy for raising agricultural productivity.