Farm ponds are constructed by Agricultural Engineering Department (AED) to harvest rain water from smaller catchments of about 2 to 5 hectares which form the land holding of a single farmer and provide supplemental irrigation at critical stages of crop growth mainly as a "lifesaving irrigation' to save the crop without wilting. Since the farm pond is constructed in farmer's land, the conveyance loss is minimized. Under suitable conditions, whenever the water can be stored for more than 4 months, fish culture can be encouraged to get additional income.

Farm ponds were constructed in 41 sub-basins across 30 districts of Tamil Nadu. In Phase I-521 ponds were constructed; in Phase II-367; in Phase III-136; and in Phase IV-830. A total of 1,854 farm ponds have been constructed.