The objectives of this study were: ?to examine the various issues associated with irrigation potential creation, irrigation potential utilization, gross irrigation and net irrigation including the definition, the reporting practices and consistencies in the data; ?to suggest procedures for collection of related data to be applied uniformly throughout the country; ?to identify clearly the irrigation potential which has been created but (a) has never been utilized, (b) has not been utilized regularly, and (c) has gone into disuse due to various reasons; ?to identify the reasons for gap in the irrigation potential created, irrigation potential utilized and gross irrigated area; and ?to suggest measures for minimizing the gap between irrigation potential created and irrigation potential utilized.