Influencing irrigation policy in India
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Transcript of Influencing irrigation policy in India
Influencing irrigation
A Success Story
www.iwmi.org
www.iwmi.cgiar.org/Publications/Success_Stories/index.aspx
policy in India
Irrigation has
been crucial
to Indian
agriculture
for millennia
Photo: Sharni Jayawardena
but…
Irrigation has
been crucial
to Indian
agriculture
for millennia
Photo: Sharni Jayawardena
...in the past 40 years, Indian irrigation has faced unprecedented challenges
Photo: Sharni Jayawardena
Photo: Sharni JayawardenaPhoto: Sharni Jayawardena
A new trend...
Infrastructure and management
of large-scale irrigation schemes
have deteriorated
Farmers are growing a wider
range of crops than the old
staples of rice and wheatPhoto: Sanjini De Silva
Photo: Sanjini De Silva
Now, millions of farmers are
pumping groundwater
when and where they choose
In need of more flexible irrigation,
Indian farmers are taking water supply
into their own hands
Photo: IWMI
Supplies are shrinking fast
Groundwater is now the main water source for most of India’s farming areas outside large canal commands
Growth in groundwater use in selected countries
Cu
bic
km
/yea
r
1940 1950 1960 1970 1980 1990 2000 20100
50
100
150
200
250
300 IndiaUSChinaBangladeshPakistanMexicoTunisiaW.EuropeSri LankaVietnamSouth AfricaSpainGhana
Source: Shah, T. (2009). Taming the Anarchy: Groundwater Governance in South Asia. Washington D.C.: RFF press.
India
Research into action
The IWMI-Tata Water Policy Program began in 2000
Photo: Sharni Jayawardena
The mission: face the new realities of groundwater use and revitalize irrigation
Photo: Sharni Jayawardena
The question: how can India integrate centrally managed irrigation systems with the new trend for intensive groundwater use?
Photo: IWMI
The work of IWMI and its partners spans the globe
Their research allows IWMI to contribute to the work of Indian practitioners and policymakers
As a result, groundwater use – which supports more than 80% of India’s irrigated agriculture – has become central to the irrigation debate
Photo: Sharni Jayawardena
The response
US$400 million from the
Indian Government…
...for well recharge
projects in 100 districts
in 7 states where water
stored in hard-rock
aquifers had been
overexploited
The money will fund 7 million structures to divert monsoonal runoff and help farmers purchase equipment
The diversion structures include desiltation chambers and pipes to collect surplus rainwater
Photo: Sanjini De Silva
Tamil Nadu, Maharashtra and Gujarat are already using the fund to implement groundwater recharge programs
Photo: Sharni Jayawardena
A leading light
IWMI worked with Indian policymakers on large projects in the Indus-Gangetic and Yellow River basins:
Ground Governance in Asia
Basin Focal Project for the Indus-Gangetic Basin
Drip Irrigation, Capacity Building and Management Initiative for Maximizing Productivity and Income (TNDRiP Initiative)
Photo: IRRI
While considering the physical, socioeconomic,
governance and policy perspectives of
groundwater...
...these projects asked:
how can Indian
agriculture use
groundwater in a
productive and
sustainable way? Photo: Arindam Mukherji
Research is helping policymakers to develop
effective groundwater management policies,
such as the Punjab Preservation of Sub-Soil
Water Act 2009…
...which has helped
cut groundwater use
by 7% annually
Photo: IRRI
How does the Act save water in Punjab?
Simply by having farmers delay paddy
transplanting until after the 10th of June
Waiting until
then avoids the
extremely high
evaporation of
early summer Photo: IRRI
2,180 million cubic meters of water
This is what IWMI estimates can be saved through this one policy – almost 1 million Olympic swimming pools
As well as saving 175 million kilowatt-hours of energy used for pumping – equivalent to more than 100,000 barrels of oil
Photo: Ian Burt
What next?
The Planning Commission of India has
invited IWMI scientists to write a paper on
the future of government irrigation projects,
as well as chair a working group that will
design strategies for large irrigation systems
in India’s 12th Five-Year Plan
IWMI will also examine
how to rationalize the
Accelerated Irrigation
Benefits Program – the
vehicle through which
the central government
provides funds to
states for irrigation
development
Photo: IRRI
The IWMI-Tata Water Policy Program is supported by the Sir Ratan Tata Trust.
CollaboratorsIndian Council of Agricultural Research
State irrigation departments
Agricultural universities
Non-governmental organizations
For more information
IWMI reportGroundwater Governance in the Indo-Gangetic and
Yellow River Basins: Realities and Challenges
http://tinyurl.com/2f2zvk3
All IWMI publications are available online
free of charge at www.iwmi.org/Publications
Improving the management of land and water resources for food, livelihoods and the environment