Balancing livelihoods and environment: political economy of groundwater irrigation in India
India’s agricultural economy has undergone profound transformation in the past 50 years with the rapid spread of groundwater irrigation. The tube well revolution has democratized irrigation, made famines history, helped alleviate agrarian poverty and made India food secure. However, the spread of pr...
| Main Authors: | , , |
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| Format: | Book Chapter |
| Language: | Inglés |
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Elsevier
2021
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| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://hdl.handle.net/10568/111569 |
| _version_ | 1855523408242016256 |
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| author | Shah, T. Rajan, Abhishek Rai, Gyan P. |
| author_browse | Rai, Gyan P. Rajan, Abhishek Shah, T. |
| author_facet | Shah, T. Rajan, Abhishek Rai, Gyan P. |
| author_sort | Shah, T. |
| collection | Repository of Agricultural Research Outputs (CGSpace) |
| description | India’s agricultural economy has undergone profound transformation in the past 50 years with the rapid spread of groundwater irrigation. The tube well revolution has democratized irrigation, made famines history, helped alleviate agrarian poverty and made India food secure. However, the spread of private tube wells has cannibalized canals and tanks. The large-scale withdrawal of groundwater has caused acute groundwater stress in several parts of the country, leading to adverse environmental and sustainability challenges. Unlike the United States, Australia, and Spain, where tube wells are instruments of wealth creation in industrial agriculture, in India groundwater governance pits livelihoods of the poor against environmental protection. This study explores this unique challenge. It discusses several efforts undertaken to effectively manage groundwater such as direct regulation, indirect levers like energy pricing and rationing, and community-based groundwater governance. It emphasizes on the arrival of solar irrigation and its potential to reform the perverse energy-groundwater nexus. The paper stresses on the need to move away from resource development to resource management mode to solve the groundwater challenge. |
| format | Book Chapter |
| id | CGSpace111569 |
| institution | CGIAR Consortium |
| language | Inglés |
| publishDate | 2021 |
| publishDateRange | 2021 |
| publishDateSort | 2021 |
| publisher | Elsevier |
| publisherStr | Elsevier |
| record_format | dspace |
| spelling | CGSpace1115692025-06-03T13:01:43Z Balancing livelihoods and environment: political economy of groundwater irrigation in India Shah, T. Rajan, Abhishek Rai, Gyan P. groundwater irrigation livelihoods environmental factors political aspects socioeconomic aspects solar energy groundwater management nexus water governance pricing community management sustainability resource management regulations India’s agricultural economy has undergone profound transformation in the past 50 years with the rapid spread of groundwater irrigation. The tube well revolution has democratized irrigation, made famines history, helped alleviate agrarian poverty and made India food secure. However, the spread of private tube wells has cannibalized canals and tanks. The large-scale withdrawal of groundwater has caused acute groundwater stress in several parts of the country, leading to adverse environmental and sustainability challenges. Unlike the United States, Australia, and Spain, where tube wells are instruments of wealth creation in industrial agriculture, in India groundwater governance pits livelihoods of the poor against environmental protection. This study explores this unique challenge. It discusses several efforts undertaken to effectively manage groundwater such as direct regulation, indirect levers like energy pricing and rationing, and community-based groundwater governance. It emphasizes on the arrival of solar irrigation and its potential to reform the perverse energy-groundwater nexus. The paper stresses on the need to move away from resource development to resource management mode to solve the groundwater challenge. 2021 2021-02-28T06:48:13Z 2021-02-28T06:48:13Z Book Chapter https://hdl.handle.net/10568/111569 en Limited Access Elsevier Shah, T.; Rajan, Abhishek; Rai, Gyan P. 2021. Balancing livelihoods and environment: political economy of groundwater irrigation in India. In Mukherjee, A.; Scanlon, B. R.; Aureli, A.; Langan, Simon; Guo, H.; McKenzie, A. A. (Eds.). Global groundwater: source, scarcity, sustainability, security, and solutions. Amsterdam, Netherlands: Elsevier. pp.487-499. [doi: https://doi.org/10.1016/B978-0-12-818172-0.00036-0] |
| spellingShingle | groundwater irrigation livelihoods environmental factors political aspects socioeconomic aspects solar energy groundwater management nexus water governance pricing community management sustainability resource management regulations Shah, T. Rajan, Abhishek Rai, Gyan P. Balancing livelihoods and environment: political economy of groundwater irrigation in India |
| title | Balancing livelihoods and environment: political economy of groundwater irrigation in India |
| title_full | Balancing livelihoods and environment: political economy of groundwater irrigation in India |
| title_fullStr | Balancing livelihoods and environment: political economy of groundwater irrigation in India |
| title_full_unstemmed | Balancing livelihoods and environment: political economy of groundwater irrigation in India |
| title_short | Balancing livelihoods and environment: political economy of groundwater irrigation in India |
| title_sort | balancing livelihoods and environment political economy of groundwater irrigation in india |
| topic | groundwater irrigation livelihoods environmental factors political aspects socioeconomic aspects solar energy groundwater management nexus water governance pricing community management sustainability resource management regulations |
| url | https://hdl.handle.net/10568/111569 |
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