Groundwater depletion in India is a result of water, energy, and food policies that have given rise to a nexus where growth in agriculture has been supported by unsustainable trends in water and energy use. This nexus emanates from India’s policy of providing affordable calories to its large population. This requires that input prices are kept low, leading to perverse incentives that encourage groundwater overexploitation. The paper argues that solutions to India’s groundwater problems need to be embedded within the current context of its water-energy-food nexus. Examples are provided of changes underway in some water-energy-food policies that may halt further groundwater depletion.

Sarfraz Munir, Waqas Ahmad, Asghar Hussain, 'Effect of transboundary water agreements on water and food security of downstream riparian communities: a case study of Indus Waters Treaty', 2014 | Transboundary water conflicts are awfully crucial in their nature as they not only endanger the food and water security of the riparian communities but also jeopardize the security and existence of the conflicting nations. Any inappropriate action done by upper riparians directly affects the existence of lower riparians. Therefore they need special care to be dealt with. There are 261 international rivers, covering almost one-half of the total land surface which are shared between two or more nations. The management of international waters has been poorly defined in the international arena. In 1947, after the independence of subcontinent, the Indus Basin was divided into two parts between India and Pakistan. Soon after independence India started to halt the river supplies to Pakistan and closed all supplies to the canals which were crossing the India-Pakistan border. India agreed to restore some of the supplies to Pakistan in May 1948, when quite a pro-Indian temporary agreement was signed. It was, however, generally realized that Pakistan could not live without restoration of the full supplies and on this question there could be no compromise. Direct negotiations between the parties failed to resolve the dispute. Negotiations under the World Bank commenced in May 1952. The World Bank planned to divide Indus Basin Rivers into two parts the eastern rivers, under completely Indian control and the western rivers for unrestricted use by Pakistan. Pakistan was not fully convinced and refused to sign until 1958 but ultimately the Treaty was formalized in 1960 after some necessary modifications. Pakistan, on one hand, was deprived a substantial amount of its waters in the Indus Waters Treaty, but on the other, it also got the right of unrestricted use of western rivers. Pakistan also received some assistance (grants and loans) from the World Bank for construction of replacement works for some water storage and diversions. It is evident that the closure or diversion of river flows in the upstream reaches not only affect the downstream river ecology but also puts the downstream irrigated agriculture at stake. This paper highlights the effects of the IWT on water availability and irrigated agriculture in Pakistan. Study finds that though there are some deprivations of surface waters availability to the Pakistan under the IWT but at the same time there are also some improvements in canal water diversions, which are mainly due to the construction of water storage reservoirs. An increase in the cropped area and crop production also has been observed which owes to many other social, economical and technical factors but all this was not possible without reliable irrigation water supplies

Irrigated agriculture is the backbone of Central Asian economies. Therefore, efficient irrigation water management is of crucial importance to the sustainable crop production in the region. Presented here are two studies aiming to improve agricultural water productivity â?? ET-based irrigation scheduling in Uzbekistan; and valuation of ecosystem services in Kazakhstan. The ET-based irrigation scheduling method has potential to replace subjective daily water management decisions at Water Users Association level with crop water demand-based decisions to improve water-use efficiency. Results from a two year study show that there can be a 32-35% saving of water when irrigation is applied using the ET-based scheduling method. The pilot plots are representative of 38% of irrigated area in Fergana Valley (241,407ha) and 50% in Khorezm (137,500ha) area. If this methodology is widely adopted, large amounts of water can be saved which can be diverted for other purposes. Flood irrigation of cotton is practiced on 128,000ha in the Bugunski Reservoir watershed of Kazakhstan. This practice is unsustainable due to seasonal unavailability in water supply and depletion of river discharges that were historically important at maintaining water levels downstream in nearby wetlands and the Aral Sea. Farmer surveys were used along with RIOS and SWAT modeling to evaluate alternative irrigation practices and cropping systems that can conserve water from the Bugunski Reservoir while maintaining farmer incomes. Simulations show significant reductions in irrigation water demand in the alternative scenario relative to the baseline scenario. Under baseline flood irrigation of cotton, annual irrigation demand was 928 MCM/yr averaged over the 32 year climatic record simulated. Irrigation demand decreased by 38% to 573 MCM/yr when 40,439ha of flood irrigated cotton was converted to drip irrigated cotton, sprinkler irrigated alfalfa and drip irrigated grapes. This represents a savings of 355 MCM/yr in water extracted from irrigation canals and groundwater wells | Vinay Nangia. (7/11/2016). Managing Scarce Water Resources in Irrigated Agri-Food Systems of Central Asia Two Case Studies. Phoenix, United States: American Society of Agronomy.

This is the first volume on the proceedings of the national conference on ‘Water for Food and Environment’, which was held from June 9–11, 2009 at the Bandaranaike Memorial International Conference Hall (BMICH). The volumes two and three have been produced as separate documents of this report series. In response to a call for abstracts, 81 abstracts were received from government institutes dealing with water resources and agriculture development, also from universities, other freelance researchers and researchers from the International Water Management Institute (IWMI).Forty Seven of the eighty-one abstracts that were submitted were accepted for compiling full papers.In the past couple of years the sharp increase in food prices worldwide has raised serious concerns about food security, especially in developing countries. To effectively address these concerns a holistic approach is required that encompasses improved agricultural water productivity, adaptation to climate change, targeted and appropriate institutional and financial measures, and a consideration of environmental issues. The main purpose of the conference was to share experiences in these areas and to find opportunities to improve farmers’ incomes and food production, and to promote environmentally sustainable practices in Sri Lanka in the face of growing water scarcity and the challenges of climate change.

This is the first volume on the proceedings of the national conference on ?Water for Food and Environment?, which was held from June 9?11, 2009 at the Bandaranaike Memorial International Conference Hall (BMICH). The volumes two and three have been produced as separate documents of this report series. In response to a call for abstracts, 81 abstracts were received from government institutes dealing with water resources and agriculture development, also from universities, other freelance researchers and researchers from the International Water Management Institute (IWMI). | Forty Seven of the eighty-one abstracts that were submitted were accepted for compiling full papers. | In the past couple of years the sharp increase in food prices worldwide has raised serious concerns about food security, especially in developing countries. To effectively address these concerns a holistic approach is required that encompasses improved agricultural water productivity, adaptation to climate change, targeted and appropriate institutional and financial measures, and a consideration of environmental issues. The main purpose of the conference was to share experiences in these areas and to find opportunities to improve farmers? incomes and food production, and to promote environmentally sustainable practices in Sri Lanka in the face of growing water scarcity and the challenges of climate change.