The realities and challenges of contemporary groundwater-based smallholder irrigated farming across the Indus, Ganges and Yellow River basins (original) (raw)
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Sustaining livelihoods in face of groundwater depletion: a case study of Punjab, India
Environment, Development and Sustainability, 2012
The study focuses on assessing the sustainable livelihoods of farmers in Indian Punjab focusing on the key aspects of cropping pattern, cost of cultivation, agricultural productivity and profitability amongst different classes of farmers at different levels of groundwater depletion. It further gives a comparative analysis of the proportionate gains the farmers avail from the government subsidies of electricity and procurement price and relates it to their coping mechanisms to sustain agriculture in future. The findings indicate to the fact that technology to extract groundwater, being capital intensive, gives greater accessibility to groundwater to large farmers who gain enormously from growing the remunerative but water-intensive rice crop. Electricity subsidy being not targeted is also misappropriated by the resource rich, water extraction machine owners. To cope with this resource depletion, the large farmers dig and deepen more tube-wells and the small and marginal farmers with little savings who are unable to invest in costly water extraction machines, buy water, shift to less profitable maize crop, lease out or sell their land.
Asia-Pacific Development Journal
This study examines the impact and potential opportunities of groundwater irrigation on rural farm households. Focusing on the size and pattern of the groundwater economy in selected villages located in the hard rock areas of Karnataka, India, the paper argues that the groundwater economy is shrinking due to the depletion of this precious resource. Although investment in groundwater irrigation provides wealth-creating opportunities in addition to helping to meet consumption needs, more often than not, the ongoing need to drill for new wells to counteract severe depletion problems cuts into the investment returns and ultimately affects the pool of assets. Farmers have adopted several coping strategies to overcome the negative externalities of groundwater depletion in this region. Groundwater irrigation has the potential to be a more productive instrument for sustainable rural development in fragile eco-regions. But, in order to make investment in this area a viable option for rural livelihood enhancement, certain policy, institutional factors and other issues need to be addressed.
Hydrogeology Journal, 2006
Since 1960, South Asia has emerged as the largest user of groundwater in irrigation in the world. Yet, little is known about this burgeoning economy, now the mainstay of the region's agriculture, food security and livelihoods. Results from the first socio-economic survey of its kind, involving 2,629 well-owners from 278 villages from India, Pakistan, Nepal Terai and Bangladesh, show that groundwater is used in over 75% of the irrigated areas in the sample villages, far more than secondary estimates suggest. Thanks to the pervasive use of groundwater in irrigation, rain-fed farming regions are a rarity although rain-fed plots within villages abound. Groundwater irrigation is quintessentially supplemental and used mostly on water-economical inferior cereals and pulses, while a water-intensive wheat and rice system dominates canal areas. Subsidies on electricity and canal irrigation shape the sub-continental irrigation economy, but it is the diesel pump that drives it. Pervasive markets in tubewell irrigation services enhance irrigation access to the poor. Most farmers interviewed reported resource depletion and deterioration, but expressed more concern over the high cost and poor reliability of energy supply for groundwater irrigation, which has become the fulcrum of their survival strategy. Depuis 1960, l’Asie du Sud a émergée en tant que plus grand utilisateur d’eaux souterraines pour l’irrigation dans le monde. Par ailleurs, on connaît peu de choses sur l’économie bourgeonnante, le maintien actuel de l’agriculture de la région, la sécurité alimentaire et les moyens d’existence. Les résultats de différentes études socio-économiques, sur 2,629 propriétaires de puits de 278 villages d’Inde, Pakistan, Népal et Bangladesh, montrent que l’eau souterraine est utilisée sur 75 % des aires irriguées dans les villages échantillonnés, loin de ce que les estimations suggérèrent. Du fait de l’utilisation envahissante de l’eau souterraine pour l’irrigation, les régions utilisant l’eau de pluie sont rares, bien que les villages alimentés par eau de pluie abondent. L’irrigation avec l’eau souterraine est d’une manière quintessence complémentaire, utilisée le plus souvent pour les céréales inférieures et les légumes secs, alors que l’utilisation intensive de l’eau pour le blé et le riz domine les aires de canaux. Les subsides pour l’électricité et l’irrigation par canal, forme l’économie sub-continentale de l’irrigation, mais ce sont les pompes diesel qui la conduise. Les marchés envahissants des services de forages pour l’irrigation, améliorent l’accès de l’irrigation pour les pauvres. La plus part des fermiers interviewés ont reporté un épuisement et une détérioration de la ressource, mais sont surtout concernés par le coût et la faible rentabilité énergétique de l’eau souterraine pour l’irrigation, qui est devenue le point d’appui de leur stratégie de survie. Desde 1960 el Sur de Asia ha emergido como el usuario más grande del mundo de agua subterránea para riego. Sin embargo, se conoce poco acerca de esta creciente economía, que constituye ahora el pilar de agricultura de la región, la seguridad alimentaria y la subsistencia. Los resultados del primer levantamiento socioeconómico de este tipo, que involucra 2,629 propietarios de pozos de 278 poblados de India, Pakistán, Nepal teria y Bangladesh, muestra que el agua subterránea es usada en más de 75% de las áreas irrigadas en los poblados muestreados, mucho más que lo sugerido por estimaciones secundarias. Debido a el amplio uso de agua subterránea en riego, las regiones agrícolas abastecidas por agua de lluvia son raras aunque abundan poblados con parcelas alimentadas por lluvia. El riego por agua subterránea es quintaesencialmente suplemental, utilizado principalmente en cereales inferiores económicos en agua mientras que el trigo de uso intensivo de agua y el sistema de arroz predominan en áreas de canales. Los subsidios en electricidad y riego de canales moldean la economía de riego sub-continental, pero es la bomba de diesel la que la mueve. Los amplios mercados en servicios de riego de pozos entubados estimulan el acceso al riego para los pobres. La mayoría de agricultores entrevistados reportan un deterioro y escasez del recurso pero expresaron más preocupación por el alto costo y dependencia de los pobres en el abastecimiento de energía para regar con agua subterránea, lo cual se ha convertido en el punto de apoyo de su estrategia para sobrevivir.
Improving food security and livelihood resilience through groundwater management in Pakistan
2015
Extensive groundwater extraction has helped Pakistan to achieve food security, economic development and reduction in rural poverty. However, the problems of groundwater over-exploitation are now threatening the continuation of Pakistan’s groundwater irrigation economy. This paper reviews the groundwater development, examines the benefits it has generated, institutional approaches applied and discusses why the resource has proven so difficult to manage. This study reveals that management of groundwater in Pakistan requires multifaceted actions focusing both on supply-side and demand-side solutions. These include stabilizing aquifer; re-visiting conjunctive water use; increasing productivity of groundwater use, and improving governance considering local socio-cultural factors.
Groundwater Extraction, Agriculture and Poverty in Godavari River Basin
Ecology, economy and society--the INSEE journal, 1970
This study analyses the relationship between access to groundwater irrigation, agricultural development, and poverty in Godavari river basin with heterogeneous hydrogeological resource conditions, and their implications for resource governance, using primary data from 825 farm households. The analysis showed that households with access to groundwater earn relatively higher household and per capita incomes. The large farmers seemed to have better access to water resources. Although poverty headcount ratio is high among the upper reach farmers, depth, and severity of poverty is more among middle reach farmers. Land size per se is not a significant variable in determining access, but the access is conditioned by sources of non-farm income, credit facility, education and caste hierarchy. While small farmers used more water per acre for irrigation without commensurate economic productivity, the differences in their economic productivity in comparison to large farmers was found to be associated with inequality.
Groundwater depletion in Central Punjab: pattern, access and adaptations
Current science
Based on primary data collected from 105 farming households spread across three districts and nine villages of central Punjab, this study examines groundwater depletion and consequent shifts of the farmers from centrifugal to submersible pumps. It also documents adaptation strategies of farmers in response to groundwater depletion. Owing to groundwater depletion, borewell deepening started in the 1980s and was witnessed on almost all the farms by the mid-1990s. The shift from centrifugal to submersible motors followed the S-shaped curve, which was usually observed in the adoption process of new technologies and practices. There was increase in investments on shifting to submersible pumps and the small farmers also opted for sharing of motors in order to reduce the burden of increasing investments. There were also some shifts towards alternative crops in the kharif season on small farms in response to declining access to irrigation water due to groundwater depletion in central Punjab...
2014
The eastern and western regions Utter Pradesh are marked by two contrasting features. In terms of ground water resources, the eastern region is richer than the western region. While ground water development diminishes as we move from west to east. The agricultural backwardness of the eastern region arises on account of a variety of factors covered in the paper. While it is desirable that the eastern region emulates its western counterpart in al/ positive agricultural practices, care needs to be taken to avoid unplanned over exploitation of ground water, which has become a menace in several areas of the western region of Utter Pradesh.
2021
While access to assured irrigation is a prerequisite for sustainable agricultural intensification, increasing use of groundwater for the same and decreasing areas under surface irrigation are expected to cause considerable hydro-ecological imbalance and hence serious concerns for sustainability. Importantly, the extent, nature, efficiency and impact of irrigation vary across regions depending on the geophysical and agro-climatic conditions, farming practices and socioeconomic setup. Nevertheless, it is suggested that appropriate crop diversification coupled with necessary policy and institutional supports can potentially reduce pressure on groundwater and make intensification in agriculture sustainable. Given this backdrop, this paper examines impact of irrigation and crop diversification on agricultural intensification and its implications for future groundwater dynamics in major Indian states. Using secondary data and applying panel data regression techniques for the period 1990–1...