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/ IW

MI

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A water-secure world

IGIDR-IFPRI Conference

“Harnessing Opportunities to Improve Agri-Food Systems”

July 24-25, 2014; New Delhi, India

Expanding Irrigation for Higher Productivity

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Water for a food-secure world

India has the largest irrigated area and

is food secure- this is commendable!!

At the same time: - India is home to one-third of world’s extreme poor and

largest number of impoverished people. (UNMDG-2014)

- India loses 2-3% of GDP primarily because of poor nutrition. (World Bank)

- India ranks 63rd among 78 countries in Global Hunger Index (IFPRI)

Where have we faltered and what can be done, now?

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6

12

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30

36

42

0

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30

40

50

60

1960 1970 1980 1990 2000

Net

irrigate

d a

rea

(mill

ion h

a)

Expenditure

(bill

ion U

S$,

in 2

000 p

rices)

Trends of public expenditure in major and medium irrigation and net irrigated area under different sources in India

Expenditure Tanks Canals Groundwater

Investment

Canal command

Groundwater

After US $ 35 billion invested in canal irrigation since 1991, India has 3 m ha less under canal irrigation.

India is the world’s largest userof groundwater in agriculture in the world.

0

50

100

150

200

250

300

1940 1950 1960 1970 1980 1990 2000 2010

cu

bic

km

/year

US W.Europe SpainMexico China IndiaPakistan Bangladesh Sri LankaVietnam Ghana South AfricaTunisia

India has over 20 million irrigation wells. Until 2000, it added 0.8 million/year.

Every fourth cultivator owns an irrigation well; non-owners depend on groundwater markets.

Increasing irrigation in canal and tank commands is with Pumped water

India

During the past decade, groundwater beneath the northern Indian states of Punjab, Haryana, and Rajasthan has decreased by more than 88 million acre-feet. Now at risk of experiencing severe shortages of this vital resource are the 120 million inhabitants of those regions. Areas in red had slightly less mass due to a net loss of groundwater and therefore exhibited a weaker gravitational pull on the orbiting satellites. Areas in blue had greater mass and a stronger gravitational pull due to a net gain.

• Large areas are under water stress

• Groundwater CWU > natural recharge

• Substantial food production with unsustainable groundwater use

Food-water-energy nexus in India

The Evolution of India’s E-I nexus

1970’s 1980’s 1990’s 2000’s2010’s

# of electric tubewells

BCM of groundwater use in irrigation

Agri. Production

Electricity subsidy

Producing Surplus by Scavenging the Last Drop

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Water for a food-secure world

IMPACT OF DECLINE IN WATER TABLES ON DEMAND

FOR ELECTRICITY AND LOSS IN GVOUP IF THAT

ADDITIONAL ELECTRICITY WAS NOT SUPPLIED

Scenario description and

results

Scenario 1 Scenario 2 Scenario 3

1 m fall in water

level

5 m fall in water

level

10 m fall in

water level

Increased demand for

electricity to irrigate same

amount of groundwater

irrigated land as in 2010 (in

MU) 339.2 1696.0 3392.0

Loss in GVOUP if that

additional amount of

electricity is not supplied to

agriculture (in Rs. Crores)* 168.3 841.3 1682.6

Water for a food-secure worldWater for a food-secure world

1.4 ObjectivesYield gap of food grains in rainfed dominated districts, India

Distribution of districts

according to percentage

gap between maximum

and prevailing yield of

food grains in rainfed

districts of India

Yield

gap, %

Number of

districts, and

(%)

>75 25 (16)

50-75 86 (57)

25-50 30 (20)

<25 10 (7)

Total 151

Source: Amarasinghe et al., IWMI

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Water for a food-secure world

The lack of inputs , in particular WATER and nutrients is considered to be the conspicuous explanation for the continuing large yield gaps.

For Indian agricultural production,

the single most effective supply side

constraint is that irrigation coverage

still extends to only about 44 per cent

of net sown area. Almost 80 million ha

or 56 % of net sown area are

dependent on rainfall.

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Water for a food-secure world

So, How can India Expand Irrigation and Where?

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Water for a food-secure world

National River Linking Project (NRLP)

• Transfer water from

northern and eastern

basins to water scarce

south and west

• Mitigate floods in the east

• Generate hydropower

• Navigation etc.

• Transfer about 178 Bm3

of water Largest inter-

basin water

transfer

planned to

date

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Water for a food-secure world

Some contentious issues on NRLP

1. Do donor basins have surplus water?

2. How large is India’s food/irrigation/water demand?

3. How cost effective is water transfers for canal irrigation?

4. Have alternative water management options received

adequate attention?

5. What conditions will make India to have NRLP like inter-

basin water transfer, sooner than later?

New approaches to rehabilitate and adapt

• For example, encourage

distributed storage to improve

system flexibility and reliability

e.g. Rajasthan: farm-storages;

Gujarat, Tamil Nadu, Andhra

Pradesh: village tanks

replenished by canal water

• Modernize irrigation systems

e.g. pressurized systems

• Transition from ‘development’

to ‘management.’

Improved Groundwater Management –two contrasting cases from Indian states

1. Gujarat - ‘free’ electricity encouraged groundwater overuse

2. West Bengal– barriers to access

Jyotigram in Gujarat – separate feeders

• Pragmatic solution - separation of electricity supply to villages and pumps

• Outcome - reduced electricity use, less groundwater use, improved power supply to domestic users

Tushaar Shah, IWMI

West Bengal – easing regulatory and pricing barriers

• Agricultural growth in West Bengal had slumped by more than half

• Research identified that a major obstacle to agricultural productivity was getting access to groundwater

• New policies recommended by IWMI were adopted to reduce ‘red-tape’ and improve groundwater access for smallholder farmers.

• The policy change could benefit more than 5.6 million smallholders

Ganges Aquifer Management for Environmental and

Social outcomes (GAMES)

Salient features of the Ganges

• Large surface runoff ( ~525 km3)

80-85% during the monsoon

• Low surface water storage potential (~115 km3) 55 Km3 (~10%) is built by now

• Recurrent floods and droughts

• Large agriculturally dependent livelihoods 655 million total population

~75% are in rural areas

• And increasing water demand50% of the demand from GW

Will increase by 50 km3 by 2025

• Low flows in the dry season and severe water quality issues

Solution

• Manage the vast Ganges aquifer with an extent of one Million km2

• Increase GW potential of about 170 km3

GAMES-3S (2 year project 2014-2015)

Objective

• Augment dry season water supply for irrigation and other uses

• Increasing river flows in the dry season

• Mitigate severe floods/impacts in the

downstream

Project Strategy

• Create sub-surface storage by pumping

additional groundwater before

monsoon from suitable locations

• Fill the sub-surface storage using

normal or artificially distributed

recharge mechanisms during the

monsoon

Pumping

Water table

Recharge Recharge

Recharge

Riv

er

leak

age

Unconfined

Confined

Un

con

fin

ed a

qu

ifer

Induced recharge

InfiltrationInfiltration

Well dischargeWell discharge

Static water levelStatic water level

Underground Taming of Floods for Irrigation (UTFI)Source: Pavelic 2012

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A water-secure world

Solarise Off-grid Pump Irrigation: This is now affordable with the

available subsidies and has made a good headway in Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Gujarat and to a lesser extent in Bihar

Each 3,000 wp system saves its owner Rs 45-65,000 worth of diesel, besides increasing land and water productivityand crop quality. It also helps to diversify.

Most owners were veryhappy with their PV pumps.

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Water for a food-secure world

Enhancing Irrigation in Rainfed agriculture

• Rainfed area

– 60% of the total area

– contribute to 40% of the total

production

• Supplementary irrigation can help 25

Million ha of rain fed lands

• They have 114 Bm3 of surface runoff

• Water harvest a fraction of it for

supplementary irrigation

• Reduce the effect of midseason and

terminal droughts in rainfed areas

• These alone can double the yield in

those areas

Spatial distribution of surplus runoff (ha-m)

across dominant rainfed districts and river

basins of India.

Crop Area, M Ha Surplus

runoff, BM3

Rice 6.3 41.2

Coarse

Cereals

7.5 20.6

Cotton 3.2 7.6

Oilseeds 6.3 24.2

Pulses 5.3 20.44

G Total 28.6 114.0

Net benefits from WH and supplemental irrigation

Crop Annul cost, B Rs. Net benefits, B Rs.

Rice 11.71 8.52

C. Cereals 13.88 3.66

Cotton 5.88 8.27

Oilseeds 10.52 24.44

Pulses 8.93 49.51

Grand total 50.91 94.40

The proposition makes a good economic sense to invest

in rainwater harvesting- to start with in the

dominant rainfed districts.

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Water for a food-secure world

Successful regional models include:

Sardar Patel Participatory Water Conservation Project: Drought-proofed 320,000 ha, enhanced recharge by 300 Mm3, augment farm income by 30 percent and played big part in agrarian resurgence.

Rewa Sagar Bhagirth Farmers Movement: More than 4,000 water tanks to conserve monsoon water, non-rainy season cultivated area increased from 23 to 95 percent, milk production increased by 34 per cent-real increase in both crop yields and incomes.

In most cities in sub-Saharan Africa, S. Asia and SE Asia, population growth has outpaced the development of sanitation infrastructure, making the management of urban waste, human excreta and wastewater ineffective. Investment in treatment will not catch up for decades.

Waste – converting challenge to opportunity

0

5

10

15

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25

30

Diluted

wastewater

or polluted

water

Untreated

wastewater

Groundwater Treated

wastewater

River Other

surface

water bodies

Rainfed Irrigation

canal

Open

drainage

Nu

mb

er

of

cit

ies

Source: IWMI, RR 127

Global survey of irrigation source in urban and peri-urban areas:In and around three of four cities in the developing world, farmers use

polluted irrigation water for the production of high-value crops

Waste to fertilizer – closing the nutrient loop

Co-composting

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A water-secure world

In Summary….

• Shift India’s rice-wheat system eastward.

• Use MAR; and solar energy to reduce energy footprint of groundwater irrigation.

• Improve ‘management’ of public irrigation systems.

• Innovative agwater solutions for rainfed systems.

• Use RRR for cleaner cities and rivers and to close the nutrient loop.

• Enable “Small Farmers Smart Farmers”.

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Water for a food-secure world

b.sharma@cgiar.org

Thanks for your kind attention