Rehabilitation of Tank Systems and its Impact on Farm Economy

Tank irrigation is one of the oldest sources of irrigation in India and particularly important in South India where it accounts for about one third of the irrigated area. In recent years the performance of these tanks is poor due to heavy siltation inadequate operation and maintenance. In view of the severe nature of the tank siltation problem in recent years there has been an increasing realization for rehabilitation of community based irrigation tanks. The Government of Karnataka as a policy initiated the program of tank rehabilitation on pilot basis to rehabilitate the existing tanks and bring them under productive uses. Hence this study was under taken to know the impact on cropping pattern and cropping intensity after tank rehabilitation.