A demonstration at the Institute of sprinkler irrigation for a winter wheat crop. Sprinklers are efficient, water-saving, and especially good for close-growing crops planted in hilly or sandy areas where land cannot be levelled for a traditional irrigation system. - - Irrigation Management. Improper management of irrigation water at the farm level is often considered the major contributing factor to development of salt-affected soils. In India nearly 7 million hectares have gone out of agricultural production due to salinization and alkalinization. To help overcome salinity, water logging, drainage and related problems, the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) is assisting India's Central Soil Salinity Research Institute at Karnal to establish an irrigation management centre. Research efforts seek to improve problematic soils and crop production, expand rainfed irrigation (only 10 percent is presently utilized) and develop better water distribution technologies. Novel irrigation schemes are being tested for watering many varieties of forests and food crop species growing on the Institute's experimental farm. Extension activities are promoting appropriate irrigation practices for India which has 3.27 million square km of land, of which 50 percent is cultivable and about 16 percent irrigated.