Agriculture Reference
In-Depth Information
needed a study. The present irrigation, with stress on post wet season (Rabi crops
November-March) irrigation, was found to be causing a large reduction in river flows,
and hence the idea of changing the emphasis and having increased irrigation in the wet
season (Kharif crops: June-October) instead of post wet season, needed to be studied.
Similarly, at present, groundwater is the predominant source of irrigation, and is already
overexploited. If this trend continues, the situation may become totally unsustainable.
Hence, a comparative reduction in groundwater use was studied in various scenarios.
Improved water management through improving irrigation system efficiency and
evaporation control, by adopting measures like mulching, weeding of barren areas and
increasing the area under micro-irrigation, were also important strategies, which needed a
study. The various scenarios are listed in Table 1.
Table 1. Scenarios studied in respect of Sabarmati Basin, India, in CPSP
No.
Scenarios
Description
1
Past (1960)
No water development
2
Present (1995)
Considerable storage, ground water and surface irrigation, and
3
Future I(2025)
Business as usual. Irrigation expansion with similar composition.
4
Future II (2025)
Business as usual. No Narmada import
5
Future III (2025)
Gujarat Plan. Large imports and exports, pumping imported water in
6
Future IV (2025)
Less expert and less import, to recognise competition amongst
7
Future V (2025)
Agriculture seasonal shift. Irrigation expansion mostly in wet season
8
Future VI (2035)
Similar to Future V, but ground water irrigation reduced. Reduced
9
Future VII (2025)
Similar to V, less irrigation expansion. Less ground water irrigation.
10
Future VIII (2025)
Smaller seasonal shift and improvements in water management
The types of policy support decisions that emerged out of these studies for future
basin planning are quite revealing. The specific and overall lessons learned relate to
issues of water use sectors, especially in the context of Integrated Water Resources
Management. Given the fact that there are many water users and cross-cutting interests,
any suggested action should not only be sustainable but also be attractive in a socio-
politico-economic context (with a pro-poor and pro-woman leaning, a cherished goal in
India). The study kept in view these aspects, which also came to the fore in the
stakeholders' consultations and dialogues. A few such indicators are:
Maintenance of water accounts, in terms of withdrawals, consumption and returns,
separately for the requirements of food, the people and the nature sector, leads to a
better understanding of water uses.
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