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LATEST NEWS UPDATES | Water Productivity Mapping of Important Agricultural Crops of India -Bharat R Sharma, Ashok Gulati, Gayathri Mohan, Stuti Manchandra, Indro Ray & Upali Amarasinghe

Water Productivity Mapping of Important Agricultural Crops of India -Bharat R Sharma, Ashok Gulati, Gayathri Mohan, Stuti Manchandra, Indro Ray & Upali Amarasinghe

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published Published on Jun 16, 2018   modified Modified on Jun 16, 2018
-NABARD-ICRIER Report, June 2018

India is facing a major challenge on the water front. Its per capita water availability of 1544 cubic meters per year, as reported in 2011, has already fallen below the cut off point of 1700 cubic meters, placing it among the water stressed nations of the planet. This situation is likely to have worsened since 2011 and may continue to do so unless drastic reforms are undertaken to manage our scarce water resources more efficiently and in a sustainable manner. And the reforms must start from water use in agriculture as it consumes almost 78 per cent of freshwater resources available in the country. As the economy diversifies away from agriculture and urbanisation increases, inter-sectoral competition for water is going to increase. As a consequence, in relative terms, agriculture’s share in fresh water supplies is likely to decrease. But with rising population and per capita incomes, demand for more food, feed and fibre is going to increase. And therein lies the challenge: how to grow more agri-produce with less water on a sustainable basis.

The reforms must start by first changing our mindset that is currently obsessed with raising agricultural productivity per hectare of land rather than per cubic meter of water supplied and/or consumed. It is precisely this change in mindset, which this study seeks to achieve. It makes a serious attempt, presumably the first one, towards estimating gross water productivity at the district level of ten major crops grown in India. It also makes a major foray into estimating state level productivity of three major crops (rice, wheat and sugarcane) per cubic meter of irrigation water supplied. Since irrigation water comes for a cost to both the government and the farmers, it has major implications for irrigation and power policies, along with various programmes and projects.

This report would serve as a blue-print for devising policies and programmes that promote cropping patterns in line with water resource endowment. The focus has to shift from maximising productivity per unit of land area to per unit of water, thus achieving ‘more crop per drop’. Investing more in augmenting water supplies may not serve the purpose fully unless it is accompanied by policies and programmes that promote higher water-use efficiency in agriculture. The results of this exercise would surely awaken many a mind to promoting sustainable and productive agriculture, keeping water at the centre of the analysis.

Please click here to access the report.

NABARD-ICRIER Report, June 2018,


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