Impact of Irrigation on Agriculture Productivity in Satara District of Maharashtra State

Journal of Research and Development A Multidisciplinary International Level Referred and Double Blind Peer Reviewed, Open Access ISSN : 2230-9578 | Website: https://jrdrvb.org Volume-17, Issue-9(V)| September 2025 122 Impact of Irrigation on Agriculture Productivity in Satara District of Maharashtra State Kajal Subhash Kumbhardare1, Dr. S. S. Potbhare2 1Research Scholar, Department of Economics, Shivaji University, Kolhapur 2Professor and Research Guide, Department of Economics, Prof. Sambhajirao Kadam College, Deur (Satara) Manuscript ID: JRD -2025-170930 ISSN: 2230-9578 Volume 17 Issue 9 (V) Pp. 122-125 Sept. 2025 Submitted:15 Aug. 2025 Revised: 25 Aug. 2025 Accepted: 10 Sept. 2025 Published: 30 Sept. 2025 Abstract Irrigation is known as an important factor in Indian agriculture. Because there are irregularities in rainfall and constant changes in weather. Therefore, irrigation is essential to increase agricultural production successfully. This research has studied the irrigation status of Satara district in Maharashtra state and its impact on agricultural productivity. For this, a study has been conducted based on secondary data from 2019-20. The aim was to understand regional irrigation disparities by analyzing the total cultivated area and irrigated area by taluka. Also, the area, production and productivity of major crops were examined according to the availability of irrigation. The findings show that there is inequality in taluka-wise irrigation. Phaltan, Karad and Satara talukas have more irrigation facilities. Whereas the Jawali Khatav areas are still drought-affected. In the crop study, irrigated crops like sugarcane and wheat were found to be the highest in productivity. While millet and jowar were found to be less productive. It is clear from this observation that irrigation has a significant impact on agricultural productivity in Satara district. Therefore, it is necessary to expand irrigation facilities to achieve agricultural development. Keywords: Irrigation, Agriculture, Major Crops, Productivity Introduction Since agriculture in India is generally dependent on rainfall, irrigation is an important factor for achieving stability and high productivity. Since Maharashtra is a droughtprone state, various irrigation projects have been set up in the state to overcome the uncertainty of rainfall. Satara district is an agriculturally important district in Maharashtra, and the irrigation provided by Koyna Dam, Krishna-Koyna Upsa Irrigation Scheme, Dhom Dam, Tembhu Scheme and other medium and small irrigation projects has increased the agricultural productivity, cropping pattern and income of the farmers in the district. Before the introduction of irrigation, agriculture in Satara district was based solely on the availability of rainfall. During that time, traditional crops like jowar, bajra, pulses and groundnut were grown. The expansion of irrigation facilities has changed agriculture in Satara district to a great extent. Due to reliable irrigation, farmers have started growing cash crops like sugarcane, wheat and rice. Therefore, it is important to study the effect of irrigation on agricultural productivity in Satara district. This study helps to clarify the nature of changes in productivity due to the availability of irrigation facilities and their impact on agricultural development. Review of Literature Dr. Banduke, S. Mane (2019) has done a geographical analysis of agricultural productivity of rice crop in Satara district. For the study area, they have selected the entire Satara district, in which the effect of climate, rainfall and physical characteristics on rice production has been examined. For the study, data from district gazetteers, agriculture department reports, and census data were used, and statistical analysis, maps, and comparative methods were used in the methodology. The period from 1990 to 2010 has been studied. Quick Response Code: Website: https://jrdrvb.org/ DOI: Creative Commons (CC BY-NC-SA 4.0) This is an open access journal, and articles are distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International Public License, which allows others to remix, tweak, and build upon the work noncommercially, as long as appropriate credit is given and the new creations ae licensed under the idential terms. Address for correspondence: Kajal Subhash Kumbhardare, Research Scholar, Department of Economics, Shivaji University, Kolhapur How to cite this article: K. S. Kumbhardare, S. S. Potbhare.(2025).Impact of Irrigation on Agriculture Productivity in Satara District of Maharashtra State. Journal of Research & Development, 17(9), 122-125 Original Article Journal of Research and Development A Multidisciplinary International Level Referred and Double Blind Peer Reviewed, Open Access ISSN : 2230-9578 | Website: https://jrdrvb.org Volume-17, Issue-9(V)| September 2025 123 The conclusion shows that in a period of 20 years, the highest increase in rice crop productivity has been observed in Mahabaleshwar taluka of Satara district and has reached 100.7. Whereas, the highest decrease has been observed in Phaltan taluka. Priyanga Dunusinghe (2021) has studied the impact of irrigation on agricultural productivity in this research article, focusing on rice and maize crops. The period 2007 to 2019 has been selected for the study, and the information has been taken from the Cost of Cultivation of Agricultural Crops Handbook. The study considered two seasons every year. According to the conclusion, irrigation has shown 40% higher productivity in rice crop and 12% in maize crop. Also, mechanization has a positive effect on productivity in rice and maize crops. The study shows that irrigation increases agricultural productivity, promotes economic development by producing more produce on less land. M. Shahapur, Dr. R. Pote (2021) the main objectives of this study are to study the period and area distribution of irrigation in Yadgir district and to investigate its impact on agricultural development and to find out the areas of waterlogging in irrigation facilities and its causes. Secondary data from the period 2009-10 to 2018-19 has been used for this study. The study revealed that although the total irrigated area of the district has increased, the area under canal irrigation has decreased from 87.25 percent in 2009-10 to 80.46 percent in 2018-19. The proportion of well irrigation and tubewell irrigation has increased. The total irrigation intensity of the district was 15.54 percent in 2009-10, which increased to 18.54 percent in 2018-19, showing an increase of 27.58 percent. Therefore, it has been suggested that effective use of various irrigation sources and groundwater conservation are necessary to improve agricultural productivity. Dr. Bala Srinivas (2022) has conducted a study on the impact of irrigation system on agricultural production in Telangana state, especially in the context of rice crop. For this research, he has collected information from primary sources. Two districts, Karimnagar, which is advanced in the field of agriculture, and Mahbubnagar, which is backward, have been selected for the study. The productivity of rice crop in irrigated areas is higher than in unirrigated areas. Availability of irrigation increases production and improves the income, employment and standard of living of farmers. The study also showed that irrigation increases the trend towards cash crops, thus improving the socioeconomic condition of the agricultural sector. Objective 1. To understand the irrigation situation in Satara district. 2. To study the impact of irrigation on the productivity of major crops. Study Area Satara district is situated in the western part of the Deccan Plateau. The district is bounded by Pune to the north, Solapur to the east, Sangli to the south, Ratnagiri to the west and Raigad to the northwest. The total geographical area of Satara district is 1121.96 sq. km. which is 3.40% of the state of Maharashtra. The district is spread between 17.5 to 18.11 North latitude and 73.33 to 74.54 East longitude. There are a total of 11 tehsils in the district. According to the 2011 census, there are 1719 villages in the district. Research Methodology This study has studied secondary sources and considered the period of 2019-20. The information collected using research articles, district social and economic surveys has been presented in the form of tables and graphs to study the impact of irrigation on agricultural productivity in Satara district. Results & Discussion The development of agriculture in Satara district depends on irrigation. Due to irregular rainfall and geographical conditions, there is a huge difference in irrigation in the district from taluka to taluka. Since the eastern talukas of Man and Khatav are drought prone, irrigation is of greater importance here. To study the irrigation status of the district, the irrigated area (%) has been determined by comparing the total cultivated area and the net area under irrigation in talukas, which clearly shows the irrigation status. The distribution of this study is given in Table 1. Journal of Research and Development A Multidisciplinary International Level Referred and Double Blind Peer Reviewed, Open Access ISSN : 2230-9578 | Website: https://jrdrvb.org Volume-17, Issue-9(V)| September 2025 124 Table 1: Taluka-wise Irrigation Status in Satara District (2019-20) Sr.No. Taluka Net Sown Area (ha) Net Irrigated (ha) % Irrigated Area 1 Mahabaleshwar 14554 3186 1.85 2 Wai 34539 7899 4.59 3 Khandala 38476 9330 5.42 4 Phaltan 49624 29309 17.03 5 Man 95322 21866 12.70 6 Khatav 98906 14502 8.42 7 Koregaon 81553 14481 8.41 8 Satara 86279 26677 15.50 9 Jawali 27264 2759 1.60 10 Patan 65098 9322 5.41 11 Karad 103450 32725 19.01 Total 695065 172056 100 Source: The SocioEconomic Abstract of Satara District 2019-20 Table 1 presents the taluka-wise irrigation status of Satara district for the year 2019-20. The total net sown area of Satara district is 695065 hectares, out of which the net area under irrigation is 172056 hectares. The percentage of irrigated area varies in all talukas. Karad (19.01%), Phaltan (17.03%), Satara (15.50%) are the most irrigated talukas, while Maan (12.70%), Khatav (8.42%) and Koregaon (8.41%) are the talukas with moderate irrigation. On the other hand, the irrigation coverage is very low in Khandala (5.42%), Patan (5.41%), Wai (4.59%), Mahabaleshwar (1.855), Jawali (1.60%). This shows that irrigation facilities are concentrated in a few talukas. While the remaining talukas are mainly dependent on rain. Table 2: Productivity of Major Crops in Satara District (2019-20) Sr.No. Crops Area (h) Production In Tonnes Productivity In Kg/ha 1 Rice 420.10 616.93 1469 2 Wheat 377.55 769.49 2038.13 3 Jowar 1338.64 1070.01 1468.5 4 Bajara 840.10 88546.54 105 5 Sugarcane 639.30 494.74 316.29 Total 3615.69 91444.71 5396.92 Source: The SocioEconomic Abstract of Satara District 2019-20 Table 2 shows that in 2019-20, major crops were cultivated on a total area of 3615.69 hectares in Satara district, yielding 91444.71 tonnes. Rice area was 420.10 hectares, production was 616.93 tonnes and productivity was 1469 kg per hectare. Wheat area was 377.55 hectares, production was 769.49 tonnes and productivity was 2038.13 kg per hectare. Jowar area was 1338.64 hectares, production was 1070.01 tonnes and productivity was 1468.5 kg per hectare, while millet area was 840.10 hectares, production was 88546.54 tonnes and productivity was 105 kg per hectare. The sugarcane area is 639.30 hectares, production is 494.74 tons, and productivity is recorded at 316.29 kg per hectare. The above study shows that due to the availability of irrigation, the productivity of crops like rice and wheat is high. However, the productivity of crops like jowar and bajra, which are dependent on rainfed crops, is low despite covering a large area. However, the production of sugarcane is the highest and it emerges as the main cash crop of the district. Conclusion: The research has studied the irrigation status of Satara district and its impact on agricultural productivity based on secondary data for the period 2019-20. In this study, when the taluka-wise data was studied, it was found that out of the total cultivated area of 695065 hectares, only 172056 hectares is irrigated. This shows that there is a huge difference in the taluka-wise irrigation area in Satara district. Karad Phaltan and Satara talukas have more irrigation area due to irrigation facilities such as canals, wells and lift irrigation schemes, while hilly and rain-dependent talukas like Mahabaleshwar and Jawali have very low irrigation due to limited facilities. Productivity is high in irrigated talukas, while production remains low in rain-dependent talukas. When the crop-wise area, production and productivity were studied, it was found that the production and productivity of sugarcane and wheat crops were the highest. The area of sugarcane is only 840.10 hectares, which is relatively low, but its production is 88546.54 tons. The productivity of wheat is satisfactory due to the availability of irrigation and it has been recorded as 2038.13 kg per hectare. On the Journal of Research and Development A Multidisciplinary International Level Referred and Double Blind Peer Reviewed, Open Access ISSN : 2230-9578 | Website: https://jrdrvb.org Volume-17, Issue-9(V)| September 2025 125 contrary, rain-fed crops like jowar and millet, although they are grown in large areas, are low in production and productivity. On the other hand, the production and productivity of rice is moderate and it benefits from irrigation to some extent. From this analysis, it is clear that the availability of irrigation increases the production of commercial crops and strengthens the agricultural economy. The study shows that irrigation is an important factor in increasing the productivity of agriculture and crops in Satara district. In areas where irrigation is available, commercial crops have expanded. In drought-affected areas, however, production remains unstable due to rain-fed agriculture. Therefore, priority should be given to initiatives such as water conservation, water storage and small irrigation projects to increase irrigation facilities in the eastern and hilly areas. References 1. Dr. Prof. D. K. Banduke and Prof. S. P. Mane (2019) “Agricultural productivity of rice crop in Satara district: A geographical study”, ‘Research Journey’, International EResearch Journal, ISSN: 2348-7143 2. Priyanga Dunusinghe (2021) “Impact of Irrigation on Agriculture Productivity: Evidence from Sri Lanka”, SSRG International Journal of Agriculture and Environmental Science, ISSN: 2394-2568, Volume 8, Issue 3 3. M. H. Shahapur, Dr. R. T. Pote (2021) “Impact of Irrigation on Agricultural Development in Yadgir District of Karnataka State”, International Journal of Creative Research Thoughts (IJCRT), ISSN: 2320-2882, Volume 9 4. Dr. Bala Srinivas (2022) “Irrigation System Can Change the Production in Agriculture (With Special Reference to the Paddy Crop At Nalgonda District Of Telangana State)”, International Journal Of Scientific Research, Volume11, Issue-8, ISSN No. 2277-8179, DOI: 10.36106/IJSR 5. Socio Economic Review of Sangli District