About Us
The Command Area Development and Water Management (CADWM) initiative was originally launched to address the inefficiencies in water delivery from irrigation canals to agricultural fields, aiming to ensure that irrigation potential created through major and medium projects actually translated into productive use at the farm level. Over the decades, the program evolved through various Five-Year Plans and was eventually restructured under the Pradhan Mantri Krishi Sinchayee Yojana (PMKSY) in 2016. Despite its widespread reach and the fact that over 97% of beneficiary households reported positive impacts, traditional canal-based systems continued to face challenges such as poor maintenance, inefficient water use, and excessive reliance on groundwater. These limitations underscored the need for a more modern, integrated approach to irrigation management.
About the M - CADWM
The Union Cabinet approved the Modernization of Command Area Development and Water Management (M-CADWM) as a sub-scheme of PMKSY for the period 2025-2026 to undertake pilot projects across the states of India with an initial outlay of Rs. 1600 crores. The scheme aims for modernization of the irrigation water supply network to supply of irrigation water from existing canals or other sources in a designated cluster. It will make robust backend infrastructure for micro-irrigation by farmers from established source to the farm gate upto 1 Ha with underground pressurized piped irrigation. The SCADA, Internet of Thing (IoT) technology will be used for water accounting and water management. This will increase the Water Use Efficiency (WUE) at the farm level, increase agriculture production & productivity; and thereby increase the income of farmers.
The projects will be made sustainable by transferring the management of irrigation assets to the Water User Society (WUS) through Irrigation Management Transfer (IMT). The Water User Societies (WUS) will be given handholding support for five years for linking them with existing economic entities like Farmer Producer Organisation (FPO).
A total of 34 nos. of projects/clusters in 23 States/UTs have been approved for implementation under the M-CADWM Scheme till date.