Improving Irrigation Water Productivity in Agriculture

By : O. P. Singh

Page No: 362-369

Abstract
Water is one of the most important and scarce natural resources. It has power to enhance crop productivity by providing conducive environment to farmers to adopt improved agronomic practices, use of high yielding variety of seeds, chemical fertiliser, etc. Improving agricultural water productivity is important in overall managing agricultural water demand as 69 per cent of total water withdrawal is used for crop production globally whereas it is 82 per cent in India. The economic value of water use in agriculture is much lower than other sector. The present study was an attempt to find out different ways to improve irrigation water productivity. The overall objective of this study was to estimate crop water productivity under different situations. The study was based on primary data and it was collected from four Indian states, viz., Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Punjab and Gujarat. Results suggest that irrigation water productivity was higher for diesel pump owner as compared to electric pump owner in Uttar Pradesh and Bihar. In case of canal and groundwater irrigation, water productivity was higher for groundwater irrigation as compared to canal irrigation in Punjab. In Gujarat, water productivity was enhanced by adoption of water saving technologies as compared to traditional method of irrigation.

Author :
O. P. Singh : Assistant Professor, Department of Agricultural Economics, Institute of Agricultural Sciences, Banaras Hindu University, Varanasi.