O P Singh

The report by Institute for Resource Analysis and Policy (IRAP) and Society for Integrated Land and Water Management (SOFILWM) presents the findings of a research study undertaken in north Gujarat region, an area which has been undergoing significant changes in its farming systems as a result of several developmental interventions.

The study looked at a project initiated by IWMI and managed by SOFILWM in which water-efficient irrigation devices, water-efficient crops and land management practices were introduced among farmers in an effort to help them cut down groundwater use in irrigated agriculture without adversely affecting the economic prospects of farming.

 The agricultural ‘growth’ seen in the recent past in Gujarat is nothing but a good recovery from a major dip in production occurred during the drought years of 1999 and 2000, because of four consecutive years of successful monsoon and bulk water transfer through the Sardar Sarovar project. The real ‘miracle growth’ in Gujarat’s agriculture appears to have occurred during the period from 1988 to 1998.

The paper generated under the Challenge Program for Water and Food (CPWF) project explores in some depth a totally different dynamic in the irrigation economy of the vast Indo-Gangetic basin (IGB), an important exception to the global characterization. The global debate on ‘‘water as an economic good’’ presumes that irrigation water supply is delivered, controlled, and priced by public institutions. In the developing world, the price of water is kept so low that water use cost leaves farmers no incentive to use it efficiently. 

This paper refers to the recent plans by the Government of India to undertake artificial recharge of groundwater in over-exploited areas of the country to meet the demands for water and raises certain fundamental questions about the methods used for analysing the hydrological and economic impacts of the interventions.

The paper analyzes the potential impacts of energy pricing on efficiency, equity and sustainability in groundwater use. The overall objective of the study is to analyze the socio-economic viability of pro rata pricing of electricity in agriculture. Specific objectives are:

• To study the impact of change in mode of electricity pricing on efficiency and sustainability of groundwater use by well owners
• To analyze the overall impact of electricity pricing on the farming system of well owners, including the economic prospects of farming 
• To analyze the impact of change in mode of electricity pricing on the functioning of water markets

This paper published in the journal Agricultural Engineering describes the findings of a feasibility study on groundwater recharge, which was undertaken through two recharge tube wells constructed in the bed of old Sirsa branch canal in North East Haryana.