Water, like soil, is a critical resources in terms of utilization and management for achieving better crop production. Management of water in agriculture deals with using water efficiently under different soil and climatic conditions.

Integrated water management (IWM)

Effectiveness in water saving, equity in water sharing and delivery efficiency are essential for the sustainable use of available water resources. There should be an integrated policy for appropriate use of river, rain, ground, sea, sewage and other water resources. For achieving these goals integrated ware management is the right approach. It includes micro-irrigation, rainwater harvesting and watershed management for achieving above defined goals. 1. Micro-irrigation:      It is a method of irrigation in which water is applied to the root zone of the crop at slow speed, under low pressure and a measured rate. It help in fertigation and chemigation . Micro-irrigation includes drip, sprinkler, trickle and micro spray. Micro-irrigation systems not only promote conservation of water but also create their own micro environment and increase the biomass. 2. Rainwater harvesting:     Rainwater is a biggest and ultimate source of freshwater on the earth. The distribution of annual precipitation varies from less than 50 mm to more than 2000 mm in low to high rainfall areas. Water harvesting signals a paradigm shift from the present dependence on river and groundwater to meet the domestic, irrigational and industrial requirements of water. 3. Watershed management : Watershed management is a holistic approach to bringing about development of integrated forming system on watershed basis. It aims at optimizing use of land water and vegetation in an area to alleviate drought, moderate floods, prevent soil erosion, improve water availability and increase fuel, folder and agricultural production on sustainable basis.

 To make a water resources sustainable, there is need for an integrated water management system which should include policy and management actions like.

* Improved water conservation and storage measures.

* Incentives for selection of draught tolerant crop varieties.

* Efficient irrigation systems.

* Crop that reduce water loss

Agricultural grown and development can become sustainable only if we judiciously use our valuable and limited water resources with the help of modern technologies and traditional wisdom.