Addressing the 9th Berlin Agriculture Ministers’ Conference in Germany Union Minister Radha Mohan Singh India is already a water-stressed nation and unless we do not wake up it would become a water scarce country. He was talking in reference to international norms.
According to this, a country is classified as Water Stressed and Water Scarce, if per capita year water availability goes below 1700 m3 and 1000 m3, respectively. Given India’s 1544 m3 per capita year water availability, days are not far we would join the club of a water scarce nation, Singh added. There is a need to optimize the resources’ use efficiency, he stressed.
The competing use of water for agriculture and non-agricultural purposes, inefficient irrigation practices, injudicious use of pesticides, poor conservation infrastructure, and lack of governance have lead to increasing water scarcity and pollution worldwide, Singh said.
The Minister also informed that most of the irrigation projects are operating at levels below the achievable efficiency of more than 50 per cent and there is enormous scope to improve the productivity and efficiency of irrigation systems which can be achieved both by technological as well as social interventions.
Though India is among the leading producers of foodgrains in the world its productivity vis-à-vis world average and highest yield (kg/ha) for major crops such as cereals, pulses, oilseeds, sugarcane and vegetables remains short of the highest levels achieved elsewhere in the world.
Similarly, in livestock sector also, despite India being the top producer of milk, bovine productivity is only 1538 kg per year as compared to the world average of 2238 kg per year. The low productivity levels also indicate existence of enormous untapped potential.
Singh said the prevailing farming situation in India calls for an integrated effort to address the emerging issues and problems. However, these integrated farming systems are required to be location specific.
