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Indian agriculture is trapped in a complex nexus of groundwater depletion and energy subsidies
. This nexus is the product of past public policy choices that initially offered opportunities to India's small-holder-based irrigation economy but has now generated in its wake myriad economic, social, and environmental distortions. Conventional 'getting-the-price-right' solutions to reduce these distortions have consistently been undermined by the invidious political economy that the nexus has created. The historical evolution of the nexus is outlined, the nature and scale of the distortions it has created are explored, and alternative approaches which Indian policy makers can use to limit, if not eliminate, the damaging impacts of the distortions, are analysed. © 2012 Springer-Verlag
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Using secondary data generated from three rounds (31st, 48th and 54th) of the National Sample Survey Organization (NSSO) of India, a macro-level estimate of the spread of markets for groundwater supported pump irrigation services in India was derived for two periods of time, 1976-1977 and 1997-1998
. This estimate is the first of its kind that presents a spatio-temporal analysis of the markets for pump rental and irrigation services at an all-India level. The results, computed using simple statistics, show that the area irrigated through pump irrigation services has increased from an estimated 1.0 million ha in 1976-1977 to an estimated 20.0 million ha in 1997-1998. The analyses also calls into question two myths prevalent in literature, that these markets were under-developed in eastern India in the 1970s and 1980s, and that in recent times they are shrinking in southern peninsular India due to groundwater depletion. The policy implication is that there is a need for re-orientation in the way irrigation statistics are collected in India so as to include a category of hired irrigation services and establish a comparable survey design for future use. © Springer-Verlag 2008
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Since 1960, South Asia has emerged as the largest user of groundwater in irrigation in the world
. Yet, little is known about this burgeoning economy, now the mainstay of the region's agriculture, food security and livelihoods. Results from the first socio-economic survey of its kind, involving 2,629 well-owners from 278 villages from India, Pakistan, Nepal Terai and Bangladesh, show that groundwater is used in over 75% of the irrigated areas in the sample villages, far more than secondary estimates suggest. Thanks to the pervasive use of groundwater in irrigation, rain-fed farming regions are a rarity although rain-fed plots within villages abound. Groundwater irrigation is quintessentially supplemental and used mostly on water-economical inferior cereals and pulses, while a water-intensive wheat and rice system dominates canal areas. Subsidies on electricity and canal irrigation shape the sub-continental irrigation economy, but it is the diesel pump that drives it. Pervasive markets in tubewell irrigation services enhance irrigation access to the poor. Most farmers interviewed reported resource depletion and deterioration, but expressed more concern over the high cost and poor reliability of energy supply for groundwater irrigation, which has become the fulcrum of their survival strategy. © Springer-Verlag 2006
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Groundwater is crucial for the livelihoods and food security of millions of people, and yet, knowledge formation in the field of groundwater has remained asymmetrical
. While, scientific knowledge in the discipline (hydrology and hydrogeology) has advanced remarkably, relatively little is known about the socio-economic impacts and institutions that govern groundwater use. This paper therefore has two objectives. The first is to provide a balanced view of the plus and the down side of groundwater use, especially in agriculture. In doing so, examples are drawn from countries such as India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, China, Spain and Mexico - all of which make very intensive use of groundwater. Second, institutions and policies that influence groundwater use are analyzed in order to understand how groundwater is governed in these countries and whether successful models of governance could be replicated elsewhere. Finally, the authors argue that there is a need for a paradigm shift in the way groundwater is presently perceived and managed - from management to governance mode. In this attempt, a number of instruments such as direct regulation, indirect policy levers, livelihood adaptation and people's participation will have to be deployed simultaneously in a quest for better governance. © Springer-Verlag 2005
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