ICRISAT Develops High-Resolution Map to Distinguish Irrigated and Rainfed Croplands Across India

Hyderabad-based International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics (ICRISAT) has developed a high-resolution map that clearly distinguishes irrigated and rainfed croplands across India, offering policymakers and researchers a sharper tool to understand agricultural water dependence at the field level.

Agriculture in India is broadly shaped by whether crops are grown under irrigation or depend on rainfall—a divide that influences cropping patterns, yields, water use and vulnerability to drought. However, most national-level agricultural datasets are too coarse to capture these dynamics with sufficient spatial detail, often leaving planners and agencies without a clear picture of where irrigation sustains production and where farmers remain exposed to rainfall variability.

To bridge this gap, an ICRISAT research team has produced a 10-metre resolution irrigated and rainfed cropland map for the 2024–25 agricultural year. The dataset has been generated using dense Sentinel-2 satellite time-series data, combined with field observations and analysis of seasonal crop behaviour. Earlier, the team had developed regional cropland products for South Asia using coarser Landsat-8 (30 m) and MODIS (250 m) datasets.

According to ICRISAT Director General Dr Himanshu Pathak, the new map arrives at a critical time. “As India makes steady progress towards sustainable water use under schemes such as the National Water Mission and More Crop Per Drop, water budgeting for agriculture is becoming imminent. This map is a valuable resource for decision-makers and for guiding policy interventions,” he said.

The dataset achieves around 90 percent accuracy in mapping cropland and nearly 70 percent accuracy in distinguishing irrigated from rainfed systems. Its fine spatial resolution allows it to capture real field boundaries, mixed management practices and transitions that remain invisible in coarser national data layers.

Dr Stanford Blade, Deputy Director General–Research & Innovation at ICRISAT, said the organisation expects the dataset to strengthen decision-making across governance levels. “From village panchayats to central government agencies, this map can help stakeholders better understand India’s semi-arid and irrigated landscapes and design targeted strategies to improve water-use efficiency,” he said.

Importantly, the maps have been made accessible through a user-friendly Google Earth Engine application. Users can view district-level maps, explore class-wise statistics and interact with the data without requiring specialised geospatial processing skills.

Dr Muralikrishna Gumma, Principal Scientist – Geospatial and Big Data Sciences at ICRISAT, noted that the dataset provides a stronger analytical base for multiple applications. “It offers a sharper foundation for water budgeting, drought and risk monitoring, crop planning and yield modelling. Agencies can track shifts in irrigated areas, identify vulnerable rainfed pockets and design interventions that reflect on-ground realities,” he said.

With climate extremes intensifying and pressure on water resources increasing, the new high-resolution map provides a timely, practical tool to support evidence-based planning and more resilient agricultural strategies across India.