Modern practices are threatening to break up an unusual water tapping and water sharing process in Himachal Pradesh. Devised hundreds of years ago, it converted barren land in Spiti into fertile fields.

Scientists have evolved a subsurface drainage system that makes saline soils arable within three years

Farmers in India are using 25 times the amount of water that agricultural scientists say is needed to produce paddy. Improper irrigation methods and misconceptions are the stated reasons for the high wastage of a scarce resource.

American aid for Indian irrigation projects has been withdrawn as focus shifts to other sectors.