Water Conservation and Irrigation Management in Natural Farming Systems: A Critical Review of Practices and Technologies
Ram Gopal
Directorate of Extension, ANDUA & T, Kumarganj Ayodhya -224229 (U.P.), India.
Rukeiya Begum *
Krishi Vigyan Kendra, Bolangir, OUAT (Odisha University of Agriculture and Technology), Odisha, India.
Debashree Sarkar
KVK, Bolangir (Agrometeorology), OUAT (Odisha University of Agriculture and Technology), Odisha, India.
Satyamaya Satapathy
KVK, Bolangir (Agronomy), OUAT (Odisha University of Agriculture and Technology), Odisha, India.
Sagarika Muna
Krishi Vigyan Kendra, Bolangir, OUAT (Odisha University of Agriculture and Technology), Odisha, India.
Mandhata Singh
ICAR-Krishi Vigyan Kendra, Deoria, Uttar Pradesh 274506, India and ICAR-Indian Institute of Vegetable Research, Varanasi, Uttar Pradesh, India.
Malaya Ranjan Swain
All India Coordinated Research Project for Dryland Agriculture, Larkipali, P.O. Rajendra College, Bolangir, Odisha 767002, India.
Samar Thakuria
Department of Agricultural Extension Education, School of Agricultural Sciences, Nagaland University, Medziphema Campus, Nagaland, India.
Narinder Panotra
Institute of Biotechnology, SKUAST, Jammu, J&K -180009, India.
*Author to whom correspondence should be addressed.
Abstract
Natural farming combines biological inputs, soil cover and crop diversification with reduced dependence on purchased agrochemicals, but its water-conservation claims require clearer separation of mechanisms, measurements and scales. This critical narrative review examines evidence on soil-water management, rainwater harvesting, irrigation scheduling and monitoring technologies, with particular attention to Indian natural farming and the transferability of wider agroecological research. Literature eligible through 30 July 2026 was selected through targeted searches of accessible scholarly records, institutional repositories and citation networks. Direct natural-farming experiments were distinguished from component studies, quantitative syntheses and mechanistic evidence. The strongest transferable support concerns management of soil cover, avoidance of unnecessary irrigation and context-specific scheduling. Evidence that complete natural-farming packages consistently reduce consumptive water use or groundwater depletion remains insufficient. Higher shallow soil moisture, infiltration, yield or irrigation water productivity cannot independently establish such reductions. Contrasting field results show that favourable performance in diversified farm trials should not be generalised to nutrient-demanding cereal systems, while omission experiments caution against attributing package effects to individual biological inputs. Living covers and trees can improve soil functioning yet compete for water; organic carbon accumulation does not guarantee a large increase in plant-available storage. Drip systems, alternate wetting and drying, simple soil-water indicators and remotely sensed evapotranspiration offer complementary opportunities, provided that calibration, maintenance, nutrient supply and water quality are addressed. A decision framework is developed around the limiting water process, an appropriate comparator, farmer capacity and the scale at which conservation is claimed. Immediate research priorities are replicated multi-season package-by-irrigation experiments, root-zone water balances, transparent nutrient accounting and evaluation of farm-to-catchment consequences. Natural farming is best treated as a context-dependent management system within which water conservation must be demonstrated, rather than as an intrinsically water-saving label.
Keywords: Agroecology, soil cover, irrigation scheduling, water accounting, evapotranspiration, deficit irrigation, smallholder agriculture