Impact of Climate Change on Water Resources - Shodhganga

Chapter-1


Introduction


India is a predominantly agricultural country, with 80 per cent of its
population living in rural areas and a majority of its villages engaged in
agriculture.Natural resources and particularly land and water are crucial
for livelihood development. Increasing natural resource productivity isthus
critical to enhance livelihoods and reduce poverty in rural areas as it is
imperative for food, water and ecological security.About 55 per cent of our
agriculture is rain-fed where delayed, deficient or erraticrains lead to
severe reduction in crop production.


There has been lack of a coherent policy to develop natural resources
asa means to enhance livelihoods, remove poverty, ensure household food
security and spur decentralized growth. Self-sufficiencyin food grains
production has been the main driver of strategies todevelop natural
resources. The advent of green revolution technologies during the 1960s
focused attention on the "high potential" plains, beginningwith the
Intensive Agricultural Districts Programme during the 3rd Five Year Plan.
While thisstrategy served the nation well in ensuring aggregate food
security, it isinappropriate for rain-fed regions as it requires complete
control over waterthat these regions lack.Rain-fed regions first received
attention during the4th Five Year Plan with the launch of the Drought Prone
Areas Programme (DPAP) in 70chronically drought-prone districts. DPAP was,
however, concerned withdrought proofing rather than livelihoods and growth-
focused development ofnatural resources. Programmes fordesert areas,
mountains and coastal areas have been even smaller andhave not fared any
better than DPAP.The national watershed development programme (NWDP) begun
in 1995was the first significant and considered initiative to develop rain-
fed areas.


There has been paradigm shift in development of rainfed areas and
management of natural resources. The watershed development initiatives were
undertaken basically for drought prone areas for conservation of water
resources and development of agriculture. The public investment in rainfed
areas was also low in the initial years however, with the change in
government policy and development focus, there has been increasing trend of
investment in watershed development programmes both by government and
international donor agencies as watershed development programmes are aimed
at conservation of natural resources such as water and land development
besides improving the agricultural productivity in the rainfed areas.


Overall public investments in rain-fed areas have also been very low.
Whilecumulative public investment in major and medium irrigation schemes
isestimated at Rs 5.5 lakh crore at current prices, watershed development
has cumulatively received less than Rs 40,000 crore. Private investment,
themajor contributor to irrigation, is perhaps even lower in rain-fed
areas. Also,procurement and price support policies have favored wheat and
rice,neglecting millets and other crops most suited to rain-fed areas.


The declining per capita land and fresh water availability coupled
with soilerosion and land degradation in India are posing serious threat to
food,social, environmental and economic security. Land and water go
togetherand their development cannot be considered independent of each
other,especially for sustainability of rain-fed areas. Rain-fed areas
constitute abouttwo-thirds of nation's 142 million hectares cultivated
area, are the resource poor areaswith low levels of productivity and suffer
most from degradation and thevagaries of nature. It is estimated that these
rain-fed areas contribute only 45per cent to total food production whereas
irrigated areas which account for37 per cent of the cultivated area
contribute 55 per cent to total food grainproduction.The productivity gains
achieved during green revolution in irrigated areashave bypassed rain-fed
areas. However, these irrigated areas are also nowunable to sustain the
gains due to land degradation and falling factorproductivity. Even if full
irrigation potential of the country is achieved, due topoor irrigation
water utilization efficiency about 75 million hectares willstill remain as
rain-fed and would continue to be a major food grainproduction domain.


Conservation and management of rainwater hold key for
sustainableagriculture in rain-fed/degraded areas. It has also been amply
demonstratedin India and elsewhere that it is impossible to envisage or
implementsustainable solutions for land and water resources development
andmanagement without active and full participation of local
community.Development of land and water together with sustainable
production systemwhen confined to small natural drainage unit such as
watershed leads tosustainable development. Watershed management has,
therefore, emergedas a new paradigm for planning, development and
management of land,water and biomass resources with a focus on social and
institutional aspectsapart from biophysical aspects following a
participatory bottom upapproach.


Government has accorded very high priority to theholistic and
sustainable development of rain-fed/ degraded areas based on the watershed
approach. It is being considered as principal vehicle fortransfer of rain-
fed agricultural technology and to bring in ever greenrevolution. The
national agriculture policy seeks to promote the integratedand holistic
development of rain-fed/degraded areas through conservationof rainwater and
augmentation of biomass production through agro-forestrywith active
involvement of the watershed community. Such system basedapproach
distinguishes watershed development from earlier approach thatprimarily
focused on soil and rainwater conservation.


Over the years, various Central Ministries and Departments have
beenimplementing watershed development programmes. From river
valleyprojects (1960s) to the Common Guidelines for Watershed
DevelopmentProjects (2008), the watershed development programmes have come
a longway. The Watershed Guidelines (1994) could be considered as a turning
pointin the policy, practice and discourse of watershed approaches in India
as theparticipatory watershed management and a focus on livelihoods,
asopposed to merely resource conservation began with these guidelines.


Agro-Climatic Conditions:


The agro-climatic regional planning strategy was developed in order to
promote scientific utilization of available resources by taking a holistic
view of climate, soil type, topography, water resources and irrigation
facilities and relating them to output and employment (Pangare, et. al.,
2006). The country has been divided into 15 agro-climatic zones having 73
sub-regions and similar climate, rainfall, water demand and supply
characteristic, aquifer conditions, soil types and topography (Table 1.1).


Table: 1.1


Agro-Climatic Regions in India

|Region |Rainfall |Climate |Soils |Crops |
| |(mm) | | | |
|Western Himalayas|2,000+ |Primarily |Hill soils,|Wheat, |
|(Jammu and | |humid, high|Alluvial |maize, |
|Kashmir and parts| |altitude | |rice, |
|of Himachal | |temperate, | |jowar, |
|Pradesh and | |Laadakh is | |barley, |
|Uttaranchal) | |cold arid | |potato, |
| | | | |rapeseed. |
|Eastern Himalayas|2,000 to |Humid, |Red sandy |Rice, |
|(northeastern |3,500 |Sikkim has |laterite, |maize, |
|states) | |inadequate |acidic, |ragi, |
| | |moisture |alluvial, |potato, |
| | | |red loamy |wheat, |
| | | |terai |jute, |
| | | | |rapeseed |
|Lower Gangetic |1,300 to |Most |Red and | Rice, |
|Plains (West |1,600 |sub-humid |yellow |jute, |
|Bengal) | |to dry |alluvial, |wheat, |
| | |sub-humid |deltaic |rapeseed, |
| | | |alluvium |potato |
|Middle Gangetic |1,200 to |Most |Alluvium, |Rice, wheat|
|Plains (parts of |1,500 |sub-humid |calcareous,|maize, |
|Uttar Pradesh and| |to dry |terai |sugarcane, |
|Bihar) | |sub-humid | |jute, gram,|
| | | | |potato |
|Upper Gangetic |720 to 980 |Dry |Alluvial, |Wheat, |
|Plains (parts of | |sub-humid |terai |rice, tur, |
|Uttar Pradesh) | |to | |sugarcane, |
| | |semi-arid | |bajra, |
| | | | |maize, |
| | | | |potato |
|Trans-Gangetic |360 to 890 |Semi-arid |Alluvial, |Wheat, |
|Plains (foothills| |to extreme |calcareous |rice, |
|of Shivalik and | |arid | |maize, |
|Himalayas and | | | |sugarcane, |
|plains of Punjab,| | |