Efficiency of Water Use in Agriculture

How much water will be needed in the coming decades, and to what extent they can be met are issues of critical importance. Assessments of the future water scenario depend crucially on (a) the technically feasible and economically viable augmentation of the quantum of surface and groundwater available for use; (b) the quantum of water needed to meet the requirements; (c) the ratio of consumptive use to gross utilisation in different uses, the scope for and prospects of increasing this ratio; and (d) increasing the productivity per unit of consumptive use in agriculture. This paper seeks to estimate the 'consumptive use' of water in crop production; the ratio of consumptive use to gross water utilisation, and the productivity per unit of consumptive use.