Managing Agricultural Water Productivity in a Changing Climate Scenario in Indo-Gangetic Plains

Climate change has significant impact on all components of the hydrological cycle. Warming scenarios and increased uncertainty in rainfall behavior may lead to increase in crop water requirements and decrease in its availability for irrigation. As a result, ground water resource is being depleted at alarming rates in many regions of the earth, especially south-east Asian region. Due to increased frequency and intensity of extreme weather events, agriculture has become highly vulnerable to climatic risks. Such scenarios are endangering food security for the burgeoning population along with over-exploitation of natural resources. Hence, most of the research is oriented towards improving/optimising crop water productivity rather than yields. Under such conditions, climate-smart agriculture seems the viable option to manage climate change impacts on water-use efficiency. On-farm water management, rainwater harvesting, groundwater development, advanced techniques of irrigation, breeding for resistance to droughts and floods as well as construction of dams for water storage are some of the practices which are immediately required to manage water scarcity. Improving soil moisture retention, changing cropping calendars, encouraging crop diversification, irrigation management such as deficit irrigation, supplemental irrigation, alternate wetting and drying in rice, etc. are very important on-farm practices for enhancing crop water productivity. In addition to this, some policy measures such as climate proofing structures, reallocation of water among different sectors, and crop insurances are also required to be implemented by governments. Improved weather forecasting can play very crucial role to minimize climatic risks in agriculture. Crop simulation and hydrological modeling are other techniques which can assist in tactical decision making for improving crop water productivity and better management of water resources. In addition to this, remote sensing and geospatial techniques can also be used successfully for improved hydrological monitoring at regional level. Hence, there is a dire need of taking quick actions to enhance water-use efficiency and save this precious resource for sustaining agriculture and attaining food security in future.