(i) Irrigation covers only about 33 percent of the cultivated area in India. The crop production in rest of the cultivated land directly depends on rainfall.
(ii) Monsoon adversely affects the supply of canal water for irrigation. The rainfall in Rajasthan and other drought prone areas is meager and highly unreliable.
(iii) The areas receiving high annual rainfall experience considerable fluctuations. This makes them vulnerable to both droughts and floods. Drought is a common phenomenon in low rainfall areas which experience occasional floods.
