Read the passage carefully and answer the following question.

In agriculture, water is mainly used for irrigation. Irrigation is needed because of spatio-temporal variability in rainfall in the country. The large tracts of the country are deficient in rainfall and are drought prone. North - western India and Deccan plateau constitute such areas. Winter and summer seasons are more or less dry in most part of the country. Hence, it is difficult to practise agriculture without assured irrigation during dry seasons. Even in the areas of ample rainfall like West Bengal and Bihar, breaks in monsoon or its failure creates dry spells, detrimental for agriculture. Water need of certain crops also makes irrigation necessary. For instance, water requirement of rice, sugarcane, jute, etc is very high which can be met only through irrigation. Provision of irrigation makes multiple cropping possible. It has also been found that irrigated lands have higher agricultural productivity than unirrigated land- Further, the high yielding varieties of crops need regular moisture supply, which is made possible only by a developed irrigation systems. In fact, this is why that green revolution strategy of agriculture development in the country has largely been successful in Punjab, Haryana and western Uttar Pradesh. In Punjab, Haryana and western Uttar Pradesh, more than 85 per cent of their net sown area is under irrigation. Wheat and rice are grown mainly with the help of irrigation in these states. Of the total net irrigated area 76.1 per cent in Punjab and 51.3 per cent in Haryana are irrigated through wells and tubewells. This shows that these states utilise large proportion of their groundwater potential which has resulted in groundwater depletion in these states. The over-use of groundwater resources has led to decline in groundwater table in these states. In fact, over withdrawals in some states, like Rajasthan and Maharashtra, has increased fluoride concentration in groundwater and this practice has led to increase in concentration of arsenic in parts of West Bengal and Bihar.

In which sector maximum water is used in India?

Agriculture

The correct answer is Option (1) → Agriculture.

Agriculture accounts for most of the surface and groundwater utilisation, it accounts for 89 per cent of the surface water and 92 per cent of the groundwater utilisation. While the share of industrial sector is limited to 2 per cent of the surface water utilisation and 5 per cent of the ground-water, the share of domestic sector is higher (9 per cent) in surface water utilisation as compared to groundwater. The share of agricultural sector in total water utilisation is much higher than other sectors. However, in future, with development, the shares of industrial and domestic sectors in the country are likely to increase.