INDIAN INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY ROORKEEDepartment of Water Resources Development & Management

ISSUES AND CHALLENGES IN WATER PRODUCTIVITY FOR 

SUSTAINABLE AGRICULTURAL GROWTH IN INDIASUSTAINABLE AGRICULTURAL GROWTH IN INDIA

M L KansalJPSS Chair Professor

November 2016

Sustainable Development

• According to Bruntland Commissionreport (1987), sustainabledevelopment is that developmentwhich meet the needs of presentwithout compromising the ability off i h i

Social

future generations to meet theirown needs.

• In order to have sustainabled l i h ld b b d

Sustainability

Bearable Equitable

development, it should be based onequitable, bearable, and viableconsiderations. Thus, sustainabledevelopment related to the three

Environmental EconomicViable

development related to the threemajor sectors – Economic,Environmental, and the Socialconsiderations.

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considerations.

Sustainable Development Goals

The Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), officially known as transforming ourworld: the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development is a set of seventeen aspirational"Global Goals" on sustainable development issues as mentioned below. It incorporatesGlobal Goals on sustainable development issues as mentioned below. It incorporatesthe issues of land development along with human development in terms of education,public health, and the general standard of living.

3Source:http://www.un.org/sustainabledevelopment/

Sustainability

Social Progress

Stakeholder Involvement Social Equity 

Employment Generation g p yand Capacity Building Cultural Heritage 

Economic Development 

Microeconomic Efficiency

Regional Economy

InfrastructureSustainability

Infrastructure 

Environmental P t ti

Biodiversity

Water and Land ResourcesProtection 

Visual Impact and Noise Pollution 

Sustainable Technology Transfer

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Sustainable Technologies 

Technology TransferInnovation 

Sustainability Principles in Agriculture

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Contd …

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India’s Water Resources – at a glance 

• Population of India is 1.27billion (2013)

• Geographical area of India isabout 3.29 X 106 km2

( h l )(7th largest)

• Average annual precipitation= 1190 mm [Varies from 100 to12000 mm] (Cv= 15‐70)

• Total Rainfall hours is about 100.

• Nearly 80% of the annualrainfall takes place in only 3 to 4months

• Number of rainy days in a yearabout 80.

• The average annualprecipitation received in India is4,000 km3

• Average Water Resources isabout 1500 (m3/person/year) asabout 1500 (m /person/year) asper (International standard)critical condition is 1700(m3/person/year)

• Availability between 1000‐1400BCM

• Highly Uneven in Space and Time• Brahmaputra ‐ Barak ‐ Ganga System accounts for about 60% of total surface water

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BCM

• Total Water Requirements (F+DW+I+ENV+N+Losses) = 1180  BCM

resources• Western and Southern regions experience severe deficit in water availability• Thus, water storage is required to meet the various demands in space and time.

Per Capita Water Availability in India

• Water availability isdecreasing and waterrequirements areincreasing, it is likely tocreate a serious problemtowards the food and watertowards the food and watersecurity in the country.

• Without a majortechnological innovationtechnological innovation,and irrigation watermanagement there is littlehope of meeting the ever‐increasing water demands.

• There is a need to yield“more crop per drop” of

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water.

Water Use Efficiency (WUE)

• WUE is a dimensionless ratio of total amount of water used to the total amount ofwater applied.

• It is the % of water supplied to the plant that is effectively taken up by the plant,% pp p y p y p ,i.e., that was not lost to drainage, bare soil evaporation or interception.Mathematically,

Ef= Vu/Vehwhere,

Ef = Efficiency, dimensionlessVu= Volume utilised, m3; andVe = volume extracted from the supply source, m3e

• The various types of water efficiency (used in irrigation area) are storage efficiency,conveyance efficiency, and field application efficiency etc.

• Its value varies between 0 and 1 or between 0 and 100 as a percentage.• Raising irrigation water efficiency means shifting from less efficient flood or furrow• Raising irrigation water efficiency means shifting from less efficient flood or furrow

system to overhead sprinklers or drip irrigation.• It is estimated that switching from flood or furrow to low pressure sprinkler systems

reduces water use by an estimated 30 %, while to drip irrigation may cut water use

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to 50 %.

Water Productivity (WP)

• WP is the net return for a unit of water used. It defines the ratio of net benefits

from crop, forestry, fishery, livestock and mixed agricultural systems to the amount

of water consumed to produce these benefits It can be ‘physical’ (like ‘more cropof water consumed to produce these benefits. It can be ‘physical’ (like ‘more crop

per drop’ or ‘value’ (‘economic’) based.

• WP is generally defined as crop yield per cubic metre of water consumption

including ‘green’ water (effective rainfall) for rain‐fed areas and both ‘green’ and

‘blue’ water for irrigated areas.

• It is used to describe better the ratio between the quantity of a product (biomass or

yield) and the amount of water depleted/ diverted. It may vary with the objectives

and domain of the interest of the studyand domain of the interest of the study.

• Thus, WUE and WP have different meaning and are interlinked. In order to increase

WP we need to increase WUE but not the other way around

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• In other words, higher WP means either same production from less water resources

or higher production from the same water resources.

WP Gains using Drip over Conventional Irrigation in India

CropYield increase 

(%)

Decline inwater application (%)

WP Gain 

(%)Bananas 52 45 173Cabbage 2 60 150Cabbage (evapotranspiration) 54 40 157Cotton 27 53 169Cotton 25 60 212Cotton (evapo‐transpiration) 35 15 55Cotton 10 15 27Grapes 23 48 134Okra (evapotranspiration) 72 40 142Potatoes 46 0 46Sugarcane 6 60 163Sugarcane 20 30 70Sugarcane 29 47 143Sugarcane 33 65 280Sugarcane 23 44 121Sweet potatoes 39 60 243Tomatoes 5 27 44

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Tomatoes 50 39 145(Source :Molden et al. (2007)

WP from a unit of water for selected commodities

Product

Water productivityKilograms Dollars Protein Calories

(per cubic meter) (per cubic meter) (grams per cubic meter) (per cubic meter)

C lCerealWheat ($0.2 per kilogram) 0.2–1.2 0.04–0.30 50–150 660–4000Rice ($0.31 per kilogram) 0.15–1.6 0.05–0.18 12–50 500–2000Maize ($0.11 per kilogram) 0.30–2.00 0.03–0.22 30–200 1000–7000LegumesLegumesLentils ($0.3 per kilogram) 0.3–1.0 0.09–0.30 90–150 1060–3500Fava beans ($0.3 per kilogram) 0.3–0.8 0.09–0.24 100–150 1260–3360Groundnut ($0.8 per kilogram) 0.1–0.4 0.08–0.32 30–120 800–3200VegetablesVegetablesPotato ($0.1 per kilogram) 3–7 0.3–0.7 50–120 3000–7000Tomato ($0.15 per kilogram) 5–20 0.75–3.0 50–200 1000–4000Onion ($0.1 per kilogram) 3–10 0.3–1.0 20–67 1200–4000FruitsFruitsApples ($0.8 per kilogram) 1.0–5.0 0.8–4.0 Negligible 520–2600Olives ($1.0 per kilogram) 1.0–3.0 1.0–3.0 10–30 1150–3450Dates ($2.0 per kilogram) 0.4–0.8 0.8–1.6 8–16 1120–2240Others

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Beef ($3.0 per kilogram) 0.03–0.1 0.09–0.3 10–30 60–210Fish (aqua culture ) 0.05‐1.0 0.07–1.35 17–340 85–1750

(Source :Molden et al. (2010a)

Factor Affecting Sustainable Agriculture

Mechanization level Use of green manure

Integrated management

Crop species type Application of 

Irrigation Soil factors

Using minimum tillage Using animal waste as Nitrogen consumption

Replacing crop products

Mechanization level g gof the field

Use of fallow system Agronomic factors Economic factors

fertilizers

The use of cover crops Change of irrigation

methods Application of

Integrated pest management

Nutrient management

Soil conservation Tillage perpendicular to

the slope Using crop rotationWater resources

Amount of fertilizers consumption

pppesticides

Following cultivate alternation

Maintenance of cultivate production residues

management

Positive effects on sustainability

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Negative effects on sustainability

Factors Boosting WP and Reducing Losses

Factors boosting biomass Factors affecting Loss reduction

• Genetic Enhancement • Natural resource managementGenetic Enhancement Natural resource management (land, soil and water)

• Fertilization • Change of Irrigation method

• Pest & Disease control • Crop planning

• Weed Control • Use of fallow system

• Crop growth in humid and cooler season

• Proper sequencing of water deficit

• Priming or soaking of seed • Manipulation of seedling agePriming or soaking of seed Manipulation of seedling age

• Application of organic matter, farmyard manure and bio‐fertilizer

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Challenges to Sustainable Agricultural Growth

To integrate the natural processes into agricultural production processes, soensuring profitable and efficient food production.

Th th f i i i ti f th f t l d bl i t The pathway for minimization of the use of external and non‐renewable inputsdamaging the environment.

Improvement in the welfare and quality of life of farm animals.

To get full participation of farmers and other rural people in all processes of To get full participation of farmers and other rural people in all processes ofproblem analysis, and technology development, adaptation and extension leadingto an increase in local self‐reliance and social capital

To enhance both the quality and quantity of wildlife, water, landscape and otherq y q y , , ppublic goods of the countryside

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Pathways to attain higher Irrigation WP

Exchange transpired water for CO2 more effectively in

producing biomass

High WP

Transpire most of the supplied

water

Convert most of the biomass

into grain

g

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Three pathways to attain highest irrigation water productivity.

Conclusion

• Improving agricultural water productivity in India is important for meeting therequirements of ‘Food Security’ for the ever‐increasing population.

• There are many ways to improve the irrigation water productivity However theseThere are many ways to improve the irrigation water productivity. However, theseoption(s) vary from place to place, state to state and also depend on social andeconomic conditions of the farmers.

• Non‐structural measures like agronomic management people’s participation etcNon structural measures like agronomic management, people s participation, etc.help in improving WP.

• Environmental protection measures enhance the WP by way of reducing waterlosses.losses.

• An important and promising area of innovation is biotechnology, which isundergoing a revolution. New high yielding plants, that are more environment‐friendly and more drought‐ tolerant will help us in improving WP. Seeds of newfriendly and more drought tolerant will help us in improving WP. Seeds of newvariety coupled with agronomic techniques suitable to smallholding farmers willhelp in yielding “more crop per drop” of water.

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