Central Research Institute for Dryland Agriculture

1
The proposals on water management in AKI Need
implications, Progress sofar
Y.S.Ramakrishna Director
Central Research Institute for Dryland
Agriculture Santosh Nagar, Hyderabad -500 059 A.P.
2
BACKGROUND - AKI

• Joint Statement of US President George Bush and
  Indian Prime Minister Dr. Man Mohan Singh on July
  18, 2005 on cooperation in Agriculture during the
  visit of Dr. Man Mohan Singh to the USA
• Ministry of Agriculture, Government of India and
  U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) agreed to
  work together for a new India US Knowledge
  Initiative on Agriculture Education, Research,
  Services and Commercial Linkages, identified the
  objectives of this Initiative
• Board, on the Knowledge Initiative on Agriculture
  (AKI) for identifying areas of common interest,
  modalities of action plan and funding mechanism
  is created (Feb 2006)

3
key areas

• Human Resources and Institutional Capacity
  Building (cross cutting areas)
• Agri-Processing and Marketing
• Emerging Technologies (Biotechnology )
• Natural Resources Management (Water
  management )

4
Sub-themes
5
Need for KIA

• To enhance quality and relevance of higher
  education through reorientation and refinement of
  course curricula, learning resources and delivery
  processes.
• To develop and enhance human capacity with due
  focus on gender balance in the emerging areas
  through training and faculty exchange
• To promote industry-academia interaction, to
  enhance relevance of education and research on a
  changing time scale.
• Development of agricultural marketing and
  processing industries is a priority for Indias
  increasingly need-based and demand driven, market
  oriented agricultural sector. Therefore there is
  a need to develop a framework of public-private
  partnership, wherever needed, and promotion of
  linkages between technology and the market

6
Need for KIA

• Biotechnological tools can make an important
  contribution to the sustenance of the Evergreen
  Revolution. Therefore, there is a need to
  translating the results of research in the lab
  into beneficial products that are delivered to
  farmers
• Improvement of water quality and water use
  efficiency is vital to the continued growth and
  productivity of the agricultural sector of the
  country. Hence, There is a need to develop
  improved technologies and management practices in
  a framework that incorporates the needs of
  multiple stakeholders from lab to farm

7
Water- Elixir of life
each drop counts
8
Water Management -issues

• Irrigated area (40), 83water used in
  agriculture
• Poor canal management (40efficiency),fund crunch
• Growth of tube well irrigation(costs less,
  quick),70
• Over explitationof GW-effecting sustainability
• Fresh water demand 2000 634BCM , 2050 1447BCM
  
• Competition from industry and energy sectors
• More waste water generated from these
  sectors,needs use
• Agriculture sector has to use this water over 1.5
  mha
• Also 25 GW is of poor quality
• Time to manage waste water as a resource and
• plan their multiple uses in a scientific, cost
  effective way

9
Water Management -issues

• sub- Per capita water availability varies across
  regions
• As a result these regions face frequent droughts
  and floods
• Scope to divert unutilized rain water( surface,
  surface storage)
• 50 area will continue to be rainfed with low
  productivity
• Need for enhancing participatory watershed
  programs
• Monitoring watersheds using GIS RS
• Development of effective drought prediction,
  monitoring
• Long term drought proofing strategies,
  contingency crop
• Planning, crop diversification, efficient rain
  water use(more
• Crop per drop), spatial DSS for on-farm
  management , effective
• Knowledge empowerment of farmers through ICT and
  weather advisories
• Forewarning systems for real time information
  transfer to farmers and
• Planers in an cost effective way

10
Water Management Focus Area

• Agriculture-related, non-point source pollution
• Waste management
• Re-use of wastewater for irrigation
• Early warning systems for agricultural drought
• Crop condition assessment techniques
• Soilwaterplant interactions, and
• Use of modern tools in water management.

11
Water Quality Management and Remediation

• Activities
• Point and non-point source pollution
• Recycling and re-use of waste waters
• Productive use of marginal and poor quality
  waters including aquaculture
• Shallow aquifer remediation

12
Assessment and management of agricultural drought

• Activities
• Early warning systems
• Crop condition assessment techniques
• Impact of climate change on droughts and
  identification of hot spots
• Improved conservation agricultural techniques

13
Soil- Water- Plant Interactions

• Activities
• Water-integrated-tillage interactions on crop
  productivity and soil and water quality
• Carbon dynamics including sequestration and
  nutrient pools and fluxes in relation to
  investment in energy and inputs
• Modelling the impact of water-nutrients-tillage
  interactions on crop growth and sustainability
  parameters

14
Sustainable use of Ground Water Resources

• Activities
• Coastal aquifer management creation of sub
  surface fresh water barrier for arresting
  salinity ingress
• Management of Aquifer recharge in water deficit
  areas
• Deep aquifers utilization and management

15
Use of Modern tools in water management

• Activities
• Integrating space and information technology with
  water management for planning and decision making
  
• Decision support systems for management of
  uncertainty and risk in irrigated commands and
  rainfed agriculture
• Cost effective water and energy efficient
  irrigation systems and automation

16
Programs identified for discussion

• Impact assessment of the prevalence and severity
  of agricultural drought on various spatial and
  temporal scale
• Agricultural drought management strategies for
  improved performance of soils, crops and
  livestock under varying rainfall ground water
  potential situations
• Spatial decision support systems for value added
  agro advisories

17
Programs finalized
Priority .1 Agricultural Drought Management
Strategies for Soil, Crop and Livestock for
improving livelihood of farmers under different
agro-climatic zones
Objectives

• To evolve suitable crop management practices for
  improving the productivity of the farming systems
  under low and high rainfall situations in
  association with the varying levels of
  supplemental ground water supply.
• Investigate the impact of crop diversification
  and management practices on yield and economic
  returns
• Identify strategies to improve soil water holding
  capacity, nutrient cycling, C sequestration and
  decreased soil erosion
• Identify improved farming system practices,
  including live stock and aquaculture, for
  enhanced productivity and economic returns
• Develop precision agricultural techniques to
  enhance fertilizer and water use efficiency
• Develop water harvesting techniques that will
  improve crop production, sustainability and
  economic return
• To develop Indian Agricultural Drought Monitor
  integrating inputs from geospatial and aspatial
  data
• Develop weather based models that will predict
  crop pest outbreaks and appropriate management
  strategies

18
Priority .2
Decision Support Systems for Agro-advisories in
Rainfed Areas and Participatory Irrigation
Management in Canal Commands

• Objectives
• To conceptualize and develop a framework for a
  decision support system (DSS) addressing macro
  and micro level queries on a real time basis for
  farmers and administrators
• Development of DSS integrating climatic,
  hydrologic, landscape, soil, crop, and economic
  models
• Develop a suitable database using on-farm
  research, remote sensing, geographic information
  systems (GIS) and other sources.
• Regionalize agricultural database using models to
  identify Best Management Practices, or water
  management and conservation strategies, for
  selected climatic zones and agro ecosystems
• Develop and test DSS, user interface, and web
  based information and communications technology
  system

19

• Identify suitable statistical, screening and
  mechanistic climatic, soil-plant-water or
  hydrologic models for prediction of
  soil-water-crop management impacts on
  productivity, resource use efficiency and
  environmental quality using a combination of
  stakeholder workshops and team expertise to
  identify desirable model and DSS outcomes.
• Set up DSS for real time and seasonal delivery of
  Best Management Practices, drought advisories, or
  water management and conservation strategies to
  agricultural professionals and farmers
• Develop interface with the crop and water models
  addressing all the expected what-if scenarios
  deliverable to producers
• Develop tools and techniques for quick processing
  of data and making the system user-friendly
  through national agro-advisory network
• Enable water users associations for better
  decision making and dissemination of knowledge
  for strengthening PIM
• Train agricultural professionals (including
  women) in use of DSS

20
Benefits

• Initiation of frontier research programs
• Exchange of knowledge
• Human resource development
• Infrastructure development
• Strengthening the public-private partnership

21
Fourth Board meeting - 17 Nov06

• Agreed on many deliverables
• Capacity building, curriculum development,water
  management,
• Biotechnology - to be taken up in 2007
• 12 Borlaug fellows identified for 2007
• Other colloborative projects will be identified
  and operationalized
• Proposals for cold chains for food veg
  involving CIPHET,Ludhiana
• CIFT for fish will be developed in 2007 along
  with food processing research
• Pigeon pea genomics using EST,QTL, BAC library
  jointly with UC, Davis
• Drought and salinity tolerance in crops to be
  taken in 2007
• Water management projects with Nat.Assoc.of State
  univ land grant colleges
• Private sector to play an important role to
  supplement public sector efforts
• Next meeting in Washington in june ,2007

22
ICAR initiatives on Scientific Vigilance

• On scientific materials, knowledge and skill
• Access to and disclosure of bio-resources,
  traditional knowledge sci. info.
• Bioterrorism biological weapons(microbes),
  app. envi. Microbiology-sensitive
• Bio-security Agro-terrorism food safety, plant
  animal life associated
• Environmental risk covers pest,diseases ans
  others
• Check introduction and release of GM organism and
  their products
• Check introduction of invasive alien plant
  species (weeds and others)
• NBA is the authority for deciding benefit sharing
  (sec.21(2) and (4))
• Colloborative projects involving bio-resources
  should follow NBA guidelines
• All materials to be regd. At NBPGR, get IC no.
  Then only they can be exchanged
• 2 tier system control at Central and Institute
  level
• Balancing openness and security
• Un-authenticated new record of diseases/pests not
  to be made public
• Pre-publication review of sensitive research
  publications

23
(No Transcript)