Irrigation potential

(thousand ha)

India is the top country by irrigation potential in the world. As of 2020, irrigation potential in India was 139,500 thousand ha that accounts for 26.88% of the world's irrigation potential. The top 5 countries (others are China, Brazil, Russian Federation, and Pakistan) account for 55.72% of it. The world's total irrigation potential was estimated at 518,978 thousand ha in 2020.

The description is composed by our digital data assistant.
What is irrigation potential?

Area of land which is potentially irrigable. Country/regional studies assess this value according to different methods. For example, some consider only land resources, others consider land resources plus water availability, others include economical aspects in their assessments (such as distance and/or difference in elevation between the suitable land and the available water) or environmental aspects, etc. If available, this information is given in the individual country profiles. The figure includes the area already under agricultural water management .