Irrigation management in South Asia: challenges, innovations, and opportunities

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Original abstract

Irrigation remains central to agricultural productivity and food security across South Asia, one of the world’s most densely populated and water-stressed regions. However, increasing climate variability, groundwater depletion, aging irrigation infrastructure, inefficient surface irrigation practices, and rising agricultural water demand are intensifying pressure on regional irrigation systems. This study presents a structured narrative review with thematic synthesis to assess the current irrigation status, evaluate irrigation management challenges, technological innovations, and sustainability opportunities across South Asia. The review indicates that South Asia remains the world’s largest groundwater extraction region, with India, Pakistan, and Bangladesh collectively accounting for nearly half of global irrigation-related groundwater use. Conventional surface irrigation methods continue to dominate nearly 80-85% of irrigated areas across the region, where field application efficiencies frequently remain below 45% due to conveyance losses, overirrigation, and aging canal systems. Increasing monsoon variability, droughts, floods, and rising temperatures are further reducing irrigation reliability and increasing crop water demand. In addition, groundwater overextraction, energy-intensive irrigation pumping, weak groundwater governance, and unequal access to modern irrigation technologies continue to constrain irrigation sustainability. Recent advancements including drip and sprinkler irrigation, sensor-based irrigation scheduling, Internet of Things (IoT)-enabled monitoring systems, remote sensing applications, machine learning-assisted irrigation management, and solar-powered irrigation technologies demonstrate potential to improve irrigation efficiency and climate resilience. However, adoption remains limited due to high installation costs, weak extension systems, limited technical capacity, and institutional constraints. The review identifies major research gaps associated with basin-scale irrigation sustainability, integration of digital irrigation technologies, groundwater-energy interactions, and long-term socioeconomic feasibility of climate-smart irrigation systems. Strengthening groundwater governance, modernizing irrigation infrastructure, improving irrigation efficiency, and integrating data-driven irrigation management approaches will be critical for enhancing agricultural water productivity and long-term climate resilience irrigation across South Asia.

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