In the age of climate change and water scarcity, micro-irrigation is a vital means to preserve water while helping agriculture blossom to its full potential
Randhir Chauhan has spent over a quarter century at the frontline of India’s water crisis, working to make precision irrigation not just a technology but a movement. As Managing Director of Netafim India, he oversees the Indian operations of the company that invented drip irrigation, in a country where roughly 80 percent of irrigated land still does not use it. His perspective on what has changed, what has not, and what must, is as urgent as the resource crisis he is helping to address.
Netafim pioneered drip irrigation decades ago, but the challenge of water scarcity in Indian agriculture has only grown more urgent since then. From where you sit today, how far has India actually come in adopting precision irrigation, and how far does it still need to go?
India has made meaningful progress in precision irrigation; however, the scale of the challenge still far exceeds current coverage. With water stress and climate volatility intensifying, micro-irrigation is no longer optional; it is essential.
Out of 141 million hectares of cultivated land, about 71 million hectares are irrigated, with nearly 46 million hectares dependent on groundwater. This places significant pressure on already depleting resources. Against this backdrop, micro-irrigation covers roughly 14 million hectares, just about 20% of the irrigated area. States like Maharashtra, Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, Gujarat, and Tamil Nadu have emerged as leaders, each contributing between 1.4 to over 2 million hectares under micro-irrigation.
At the same time, large agrarian states like Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, and Jharkhand represent the next frontier. However, the pace of adoption remains a concern. Annual expansion is around 1 million hectares, and at this pace, it could take nearly five decades to unlock the full potential of micro-irrigation. The way forward is clear to improve accessibility, strengthen policy execution, and deepen farmer awareness. Precision irrigation has already demonstrated its impact to enhance both water efficiency and productivity. The priority now is to accelerate adoption and achieve more balanced growth across regions.
You’ve been in the micro-irrigation sector for over 25 years, through multiple policy cycles, budget announcements, and subsidy regimes. What has been the single biggest structural barrier to scale, and what would genuinely move the needle?
Over the past 25 years, the single most significant structural barrier has been the challenge of timely payments to suppliers. While farmer awareness and willingness have grown, delayed subsidy disbursements consistently strain micro-irrigation companies, most of which are MSMEs. These delayed or uncertain payments place a heavy financial burden on suppliers, limiting their ability to invest, innovate, and effectively serve farmers. The problem is compounded by inconsistent implementation and complex processes across states, as well as limited alignment between central and state mechanisms. When payments are not predictable or prompt, companies struggle to scale their operations and support wider adoption of micro-irrigation.
What would genuinely move the needle is a shift toward simple, streamlined, and transparent payment systems for suppliers. Ensuring year-round access to schemes, clarity on financial support, and efficient payment mechanisms would remove the persistent bottleneck and empower companies to deliver more consistently. Ultimately, the sector does not need new ideas—it needs reliable payments to suppliers to unlock broader adoption and drive sustainable growth in micro-irrigation across India.
Netafim India is now moving toward digital farming solutions alongside its core irrigation business. What does that evolution look like on the ground, particularly for smallholder farmers who may be technology-hesitant?
The shift toward digital farming is a natural progression, but on the ground, it is evolving in a nuanced way, particularly among smallholder farmers.
Access to technology is no longer the primary challenge. Mobile penetration and data availability in rural India are high, and farmers are increasingly comfortable with digital tools in daily life. The gap lies in translating this familiarity into confidence in farm-level applications. Among larger farmers, adoption has accelerated. Solutions such as automation, sensors, and remote monitoring are already delivering tangible value.
Platforms like GrowSphere enable farmers to manage irrigation and fertigation from their phones, monitor fields remotely, and make data-driven decisions using integrated crop models. For smallholders, adoption is growing but requires a different approach. Technology must be simple, reliable, and designed for long-term usability. Training, handholding, and consistent service support are essential to building trust and ensuring correct usage. Digital farming will scale when it aligns seamlessly with the realities of small farms.
At Netafim, our approach is to deliver a holistic solution that combines the right products with crop models and strong service support to drive meaningful adoption.
India is simultaneously grappling with water stress, climate volatility, and the need to feed a growing population. How do you balance the commercial imperatives of running a business with what feels like a much larger societal responsibility?
In Indian agriculture, business goals and social responsibility go hand in hand. To address water scarcity and climate risks, solutions must be cost-effective and efficient. We’ve focused on making precision irrigation affordable and simple for small farmers, with technology fitting their daily needs. Our portable drip and sprinkler kits are easy to use, install, and maintain. They offer flexibility, moving across plots and adapting to different crops and farm sizes. By directing water and nutrients to roots, these systems boost efficiency, reduce waste, and improve yields. When farmers see reliable results, adoption grows, benefiting both communities and businesses.
You’ve served as President of the Irrigation Association of India and are part of CII’s National Council on Agriculture. In your experience, where does the gap between policy intent and on-ground reality tend to be widest, and how can that gap be bridged?
The government’s intent is clear, with a target to bring 1 crore hectares under micro-irrigation over five years, about 20 lakh hectares annually. However, actual progress over the past several years has averaged closer to 10 lakh hectares per year, highlighting a persistent gap between vision and execution. This gap is largely due to structural bottlenecks. Farmers often face delays in accessing scheme benefits, while fund flows remain uneven. Although coverage is eventually recorded, the burden of these delays falls heavily on micro-irrigation companies over 95% of which are MSMEs creating financial strain.
As key enablers of implementation, these companies depend on timely subsidy disbursements. When cash flows are disrupted, their ability to scale, invest, and innovate is directly impacted. A practical solution is to adopt a Direct Benefit Transfer (DBT) model under the Per Drop More Crop programme. Under this framework, farmers would have the flexibility to choose suppliers, pay upfront through their own or financed resources, and receive subsidies directly. Structuring subsidies as fixed support rather than linking them to system cost would further simplify the process.
The other approach is to issue CBDC (Central Bank Digital Currency) as approval, so farmers don’t need to invest, and suppliers don’t need to wait for payments after work completion. Both approaches enable year-round adoption, reduce working capital pressure on companies, and create a more stable demand-supply ecosystem.
When execution mechanisms align with policy intent, scale becomes a natural outcome.
