More Crop and Income per Drop”.

t has been said that just as the conflicts of the 20th century were often over the sharing of scarce petroleum resources, those of the 21st century will probably be over the sharing of water. Some estimates suggest that world food demand could double in the next two decades. That will translate into a huge demand for water. Further stress on scarce water resources will be caused by population growth, the majority of which will be dependent on agriculture; industry and will lead to urbanization. Nowhere are these challenges more pressing than in Asia.

In our country, we are already struggling every year with floods in one part of the country and droughts in other parts of our country. This year, we had severe floods in Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh and elsewhere. At the same time around 300 districts of the country were declared as being drought affected. These imbalances will only intensify with climatic distortions that are now on the horizon. Moreover, there are concerns that climate change may also adversely impact on ground water table and its quality, affecting thereby productivity of the cropping systems.

Some of the key action areas of the “National Water Mission” are:

* Placing of a comprehensive water data base in the public domain and assessment of the impact of climate change on water resources;
* Promotion of citizen and State actions for water conservation, augmentation and preservation;
* Focused attention to over-exploited areas;
* Increasing water use efficiency by at least 20%; and,
* Promotion of basin level integrated water resource management.

We need to increase investment in agricultural technologies, particularly those related to improved crop practices, water savings, design of storage structures & more efficient farm implements. The first Green Revolution came due to innovations developed in the public sector. The second Green Revolution may well come from technologies developed in the private sector. It is therefore essential that private investment and innovation be incorporated within a broader vision and strategy of development in the agriculture and water sectors.