Kolar

After the severe droughts and food shortages of the 1960s, the Indian government’s main priority was increased agricultural productivity. The population was growing by a million a month, twice as fast as its grain production, and despite three quarters of the workforce being involved in agriculture, there was a looming famine making the country dependent on imported foodstuffs. The high yielding strains of wheat and rice introduced to replace traditional crops and facilitate self-sufficiency were reliant on a dependable source of water. 

In Mysore State the agricultural development agency, Agro Industries Corporation, was given the task of putting more land under irrigation. Agro Industries and the international relief agency CARE sponsored equipment for a well blasting project to aid in the development of the groundwater resources in the villages of Kolar District.