Harnessing Climate-Tech Could Make Indian Agriculture Water-Positive

Indian farmers are facing acute water stress due to overdependence on groundwater and a lack of water conservation measures. This is impacting the agricultural output and livelihoods of smallholder farmers. The situation is expected to worsen as India's water demand is projected to double its available supply by 2030. Dinesh Bhai is a veritable encyclopedia of farming knowledge. A chili and cotton farmer from Gondal, Gujarat, he has accumulated decades of experience in various aspects of agriculture - from cropping patterns to market fluctuations. Yet, even he was taken aback on learning that his borewell draws groundwater at 1200ft, which has taken hundreds of years to fill.

Dinesh bhai isn’t alone. Across Gujarat, farmers have reached 1000 ft in their bores (~average of 3-4 borewells across 4 hectares) and are still running dry. For many of these farmers, sustaining their agricultural output requires either relying on such borewells or drawing pipelines over many kilometers to irrigate their land.

Some, like Dinesh bhai, have the luxury of choice as they own landholdings of productive sizes that have made them somewhat self-sufficient. Others are among the millions of Indian smallholder farmers who are facing equally acute water stress but with a much more narrow array of potential choices. And the situation may only get worse for them.

Water availability in India is estimated to be below 1,486 cubic meters per person, far below the 1,700 cubic meters benchmark for water stress. By 2030, India is forecasted to face a water demand that is double its available supply, as highlighted in the Interconnected Disaster Risks Report of October 2023.

Approximately 75-90% of freshwater is used for agriculture. How farmers manage water scarcity, thus, could have far-reaching effects on food security, social stability, and the achievement of Sustainable Development Goals. Moreover, our current water scarcity challenge could accelerate poverty and critically impact the livelihoods of smallholder farmers.

Water only becomes a concern for farmers when everything is bone dry

Despite farmers' deep understanding of their crops and cultivation cycles - water has been a granted asset in most parts of India, largely driven by our overdependence on groundwater and difficult-to-regulate borewell installations.

There are continuing discrepancies between the water required by crops and actual usage across the country. This imbalance is primarily influenced by either water availability or artificially created by administrative incentives like electricity and output subsidies. Many states offer free electricity for pumped irrigation through groundwater, resulting in excessive extraction, depletion of deep aquifers and substantially altering cropping patterns.

Additionally, output subsidies that guarantee crop purchases above market rates have led to a 30 percent over-production of water-intensive crops, further depleting water tables. These incentives have stabilized crop cultivation and farmer income which is a good stride for the country. However, we are now facing a challenge that we did not anticipate: growing unprecedented quantities of water-intensive crops like sugarcane in western Maharashtra and paddy across Punjab - both geographic regions that only get one-fourth the rainfall these crops need to sustain.

This crisis has unfolded over several decades, as existing multi-year incentives became the norm and agricultural patterns remained unchanged across generations. Although the inputs market and the supply chain transformations across large farm holdings have created newer and more productive means of managing crop patterns and value chains, the smaller and medium farmers have not realized the climate implications of their practices.

Water crisis is a threat to the environment, agriculture and livelihood of smallholder farmers, and must be dealt with today

With the water crisis becoming more real by the day, the issue unfolds in a dual manner: Inefficient agricultural practices contribute to water wastage, exacerbating water scarcity and threatening the future of agriculture. This, in turn, jeopardizes the livelihoods of the 58% of the nation's population that depends on it, emphasizing the urgent need for responsible water management at the field, in the middle of the production cycle.

To add chaos to clutter, India has been in a severe patch of climatic changes, with erratic rainfalls and extreme heat waves sweeping across the country. Prioritizing sustainable water management amidst climate change could serve as a lasting remedy for addressing the challenges of insufficient food and water supplies.

One step to tackle declining groundwater levels is for the government to reassess policies like power and water subsidies through better monitoring and assessment. The approach can also aim to scale-up adoption of water-efficient technological innovations.

The first leg of this approach starts with measuring how much water is being used today to cultivate our crops and at the farm level. However, measurement or accounting of agriculture water utilization is still a rudimentary, archaic process across India. It is still done through eyeballing of water levels or understanding how many hours has the water pump operated. Unless this changes across the majority of India’s 95-100 million farming households, things are unlikely to improve on the ground.

We need smart innovations to make smart decisions

Technological innovations for efficient water management require work at three levels.

• Level 1 focuses on democratizing access to water and irrigation data for small farmers through remote sensing and similar technologies. The aim is to empower farmers with accessible data on freshwater, groundwater, soil moisture content, water quality, etc. to make better judgements.

• Level 2 will help farmers connect the dots between water use efficiency and the positive impact of it on their yield. Farmers need to clearly see that using water efficiently helps improve yield and soil health over the long term.

• Level 3 deals with judicious water use through smart metering. Adopting smart water meters offers a promising solution by providing precise, real-time data on water usage, enabling more efficient and informed irrigation practices. The substantial benefits of smart water meters for water conservation and sustainable farming highlight the need to address their affordability, accuracy, and availability. 

Investing in the development of this tech stack can help move India towards a future where water resources are managed more sustainably, ensuring food security, environmental resilience and livelihoods of the smallholder farmers.

(Authored by- Kanishka Chatterjee, Director & Head, The/Nudge Prize)