Agriculture in South Asia and its implications on downstream health and sustainability: a review

Agriculture, a century old practice, has rarely been questioned as it is a necessity for feeding the world's population. With the increase in food requirement, the sustainability of upland agriculture has posed threats to downstream and coastal areas of river basins. In South Asia, the coastal popul...

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Autores principales: Atapattu, Sithara S., Kodituwakku, Dekshika Charmini
Formato: Journal Article
Lenguaje:Inglés
Publicado: 2009
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://hdl.handle.net/10568/40576
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author Atapattu, Sithara S.
Kodituwakku, Dekshika Charmini
author_browse Atapattu, Sithara S.
Kodituwakku, Dekshika Charmini
author_facet Atapattu, Sithara S.
Kodituwakku, Dekshika Charmini
author_sort Atapattu, Sithara S.
collection Repository of Agricultural Research Outputs (CGSpace)
description Agriculture, a century old practice, has rarely been questioned as it is a necessity for feeding the world's population. With the increase in food requirement, the sustainability of upland agriculture has posed threats to downstream and coastal areas of river basins. In South Asia, the coastal population depends on the lower part of the river basin for their livelihood such as agriculture and aquaculture. There have been numerous occasions where downstream areas have suffered as a consequence of ad hoc agricultural development activities upstream. Problems encountered in the downstream coastal areas include river desiccation, groundwater depletion, water pollution and sedimentation, salinization and salt water intrusion, soil erosion and nutrient depletion, and dynamic changes in the coastal wetland systems. The objective of this paper is to evaluate current agricultural practices, existing problems, and their implications downstream. This would facilitate the adoption of the river basin approach in managing water resources focusing on the South Asian region.
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spelling CGSpace405762023-02-15T12:13:54Z Agriculture in South Asia and its implications on downstream health and sustainability: a review Atapattu, Sithara S. Kodituwakku, Dekshika Charmini river basins land degradation erosion farming systems tillage irrigation systems water pollution pesticide residues mangroves biodiversity ecosystems wetlands environmental flows fisheries Agriculture, a century old practice, has rarely been questioned as it is a necessity for feeding the world's population. With the increase in food requirement, the sustainability of upland agriculture has posed threats to downstream and coastal areas of river basins. In South Asia, the coastal population depends on the lower part of the river basin for their livelihood such as agriculture and aquaculture. There have been numerous occasions where downstream areas have suffered as a consequence of ad hoc agricultural development activities upstream. Problems encountered in the downstream coastal areas include river desiccation, groundwater depletion, water pollution and sedimentation, salinization and salt water intrusion, soil erosion and nutrient depletion, and dynamic changes in the coastal wetland systems. The objective of this paper is to evaluate current agricultural practices, existing problems, and their implications downstream. This would facilitate the adoption of the river basin approach in managing water resources focusing on the South Asian region. 2009 2014-06-13T14:47:57Z 2014-06-13T14:47:57Z Journal Article https://hdl.handle.net/10568/40576 en Limited Access Atapattu, Sithara S.; Kodituwakku, Dekshika Charmini. 2009. Agriculture in South Asia and its implications on downstream health and sustainability: a review. Agricultural Water Management, 96(3):361-373.
spellingShingle river basins
land degradation
erosion
farming systems
tillage
irrigation systems
water pollution
pesticide residues
mangroves
biodiversity
ecosystems
wetlands
environmental flows
fisheries
Atapattu, Sithara S.
Kodituwakku, Dekshika Charmini
Agriculture in South Asia and its implications on downstream health and sustainability: a review
title Agriculture in South Asia and its implications on downstream health and sustainability: a review
title_full Agriculture in South Asia and its implications on downstream health and sustainability: a review
title_fullStr Agriculture in South Asia and its implications on downstream health and sustainability: a review
title_full_unstemmed Agriculture in South Asia and its implications on downstream health and sustainability: a review
title_short Agriculture in South Asia and its implications on downstream health and sustainability: a review
title_sort agriculture in south asia and its implications on downstream health and sustainability a review
topic river basins
land degradation
erosion
farming systems
tillage
irrigation systems
water pollution
pesticide residues
mangroves
biodiversity
ecosystems
wetlands
environmental flows
fisheries
url https://hdl.handle.net/10568/40576
work_keys_str_mv AT atapattusitharas agricultureinsouthasiaanditsimplicationsondownstreamhealthandsustainabilityareview
AT kodituwakkudekshikacharmini agricultureinsouthasiaanditsimplicationsondownstreamhealthandsustainabilityareview