Professor Ramesh Chand, a member of Niti Aayog, highlighted India's excessive water usage in agriculture compared to other nations and called for promoting sustainable practices. He emphasized the need for state governments to promote crop cultivation based on local conditions. Paddy and sugarcane, major crops in India, are particularly water-intensive. The country has three cropping seasons, with Rabi crops relying on irrigation. Despite significant investments in irrigation projects, the area under irrigation remained stagnant until 2015. Singh, the Agriculture Commissioner, discussed exploring methods to increase irrigation area using the same water amount, collaborating with the Jal Shakti ministry.