Towards sustainable groundwater systems in South Asia: Data exploration in Nalanda district in Bihar, India

Groundwater resources and irrigation systems are a fundamental consideration for sustainable and inclusive food system transitions in South Asia. Over the course of the latter part of the 20th century and the early 21st century, groundwater has become the primary source of irrigation water across South Asia and globally. The aquifers in Western and Peninsula regions in South Asia have faced water scarcity and groundwater depletion. But in the Eastern Gangetic Plains, aquifers are still considered underutilized by most planners and policymakers. This has resulted in increased investments in groundwater irrigation for water security and climate adaptation. However, the aquifer response to increasing irrigation water withdrawals remains poorly understood. To address this knowledge gap, TAFSSA is developing watershed assessment on sustainable groundwater use. Starting with Nalanda distric in Bihar, India, a relatively water scarce district within the Eastern Gangetic Plains. This research note reports on the initial findings from existing groundwater data and outlines key steps towards building a groundwater model to support sustainable groundwater management and planning

Pumping behavior of solar irrigation farmers for assessing the sustainability of groundwater in Bangladesh and India

The increasing use of Solar Irrigation Pumps (SIPs) has raised concerns about the overexploitation of groundwater. So, this study aims to evaluate the impact of SIPs on pumping behaviour of farmers and its subsequent effect on overall groundwater resources in Bangladesh and India. In Bangladesh, the study is being carried out in the intensively irrigated North-West region, where the government is promoting the feefor- service model for solar irrigation. This model creates a solar irrigation command area by setting up centralized sponsored SIPs. In India, the study is being conducted in the state of Gujarat, where the grid-connected solar irrigation pump model has been implemented under the Suryashakti Kisan Yojana (SKY) scheme

Compendium on Solar Powered Irrigation Systems in India

Solar power has been one of the main focus areas in the clean energy trajectory with massive potential for application in the agriculture sector, particularly in the irrigation space. Underpinning technology and government programs have made accessing renewable energy such as solar power, very much within the reach of the communities. Solar powered irrigation system (SPIS) has been gaining the necessary impetus from development professionals and government, due to its ability to curtail climate change while supporting the economic growth of the country. With an increasing focus on solar energy use in agriculture, several pilots and models of solar irrigation systems have been rolled out in the country. In-spite of this, the majority of the agricultural water needs are being met by electricity or diesel operated pumps. Scaling up solar irrigation mechanism has been a challenge even though Indian government is promoting them by offering heavy subsidies. Further, recent studies have shown that while some of the existing models are limiting greenhouse gas emission, some are leading to dwindling of groundwater. This rationale the need to comprehensively synthesize existing pilot initiatives, which will in-turn lead to the identification of efficient and effective models for sustainable development. It also highlights the necessity to evaluate different business and institutional models of solar irrigation system to understand factors supporting and hindering the adoption of various solar irrigation systems. With this vision of generating comprehensive knowledge on different functional solar powered smart irrigation models in India and their scalability, the CGIAR Research Program on Climate Change, Agriculture and Food Security (CCAFS), BISA-CIMMYT with support of Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH), India has studied and documented different models of solar pumps in collaboration with the International Water Management Institute (IWMI). The main objectives to bring forth this compendium are: to document qualitatively various deployment models of solar powered irrigation systems and to understand the factors impacting scalability of solar powered irrigation systems in India. Detailed information about the process of installation of SPIS, their usage and maintenance was collected. The different approaches have been documented in the form of case studies developed through primary and secondary research. Total 16 case studies describing different solar irrigation deployment models that are either highly popular and represent a significant portion of the solar pumps used today or they show innovations that have the potential to reach scale are documented. The compendium documents one case for centralised SPIS, two distributed SPIS and thirteen examples for decentralised systems. We tried to capture the key technical, social, institutional and financial attributes of the deployment approaches in the cases to enable comparative analysis and synthesis. This compendium brings together a collection of experiences from various geographies and from different stakeholders. The contributions are not intended to be state-of-the art academic articles but thought and discussion pieces of work in progress

Estimation of Serum Levels of Heavy Metals in Patients with Chronic Invasive Fungal Rhinosinusitis Before the COVID-19 Era: A Pilot Study

Objective:Various metals play role in the survival and pathogenesis of the invasive fungal disease. The objectives of this study were to compare the levels of heavy metals in patients with chronic invasive fungal rhinosinusitis (CIFR) and healthy controls, and to analyze their role in disease outcome.Methods:Twenty-three patients (15 with invasive mucormycosis and 8 with invasive aspergillosis, Group 1), and 14 healthy controls (Group 2) were recruited. Blood samples were collected from each group into ion-free tubes and analyzed for serum levels of Nickel (Ni), Copper (Cu), Zinc (Zn), Gallium (Ga), Arsenic (As), Selenium (Se), Rubidium (Rb), Strontium (Sr), Cadmium (Cd), and Lead (Pb). The final outcome of the patients during their hospital stay was categorized clinico-radiologically as improved or worsened, or death.Results:The levels of all metals were higher in Group 1 except for As and Pb. However, the differences in Cu (p=0.0026), Ga (p=0.002), Cd (p=0.0027), and Pb (p=0.0075) levels were significant. Higher levels of Zn (p=0.009), Se (p=0.020), and Rb (p=0.016) were seen in the invasive aspergillosis subgroup. Although Zn (p=0.035), As (p=0.022), and Sr (p=0.002) levels were higher in patients with improved outcome, subgroup analysis showed no differences.Conclusion:The levels of some heavy metals in CIFR significantly differ from those of the general population and also vary with the type of the disease and its outcome. These levels may not have a direct effect on the outcome of the patient, but they do play a role in the pathogenesis of the invading fungus

Conservation agriculture: towards managing the water-energy-food nexus in India

Depleting groundwater resources and increasing energy demand with the huge dependence of India’s agriculture on groundwater and energy, and especially in water deficit rice-based production systems, are posing a serious threat to sustained food, water, and energy security. Sustainability concerns of water, energy, and input-intensive rice-based crop production systems have increased the realization for developing and scaling up alternative agro-techniques that can significantly reduce the water and energy requirements in crop production without compromising on crop yield. The interconnectedness between water, energy, and food makes the concept of water, energy, and food (WEF) nexus more relevant to explore integrated solutions to efficient use of limited and/or declining water and energy resources. Conservation agriculture (CA) is gaining currency as an alternate system for rice/cereal-based production systems to conserve water and energy, improve soil health, reduce cost of cultivation, and preserve ecology. This paper explores the concept of WEF nexus and how CA addresses the challenge of harmonizing the synergy among water, energy, and food though WEF ‘nexus gains’ especially in the context of groundwater irrigated rice/cereal based cropping systems

Satellite data offers new hope for flood-stricken farmers in India

Climate change magnifies the risk of disasters and increases their costs. As the climate system has warmed, the number of weather-related hazards globally has tripled, and the number of people living in flood-prone areas and cyclone-exposed coastlines has doubled – and this trend is expected to increase. Dr Giriraj Amarnath and Dr Alok Sikka of International Water Management Institute (IWMI), discuss

Prioritizing Land and Water Interventions for Climate-Smart Villages

Climate-smart villages mean implementing a portfolio of best locally suited climate-smart agricultural practices in an integrated manner to build resilience of the local community. Land and water interventions form a crucial part of a climate-smart agricultural practices portfolio, with water availability being the key limiting factor of crop growth. To aid in this decision-making process of prioritizing land and water interventions, a simple and robust spreadsheet tool based on a water balance is developed. The tool integrates and simulates impacts of land and water interventions on the water balance to determine their impact across climate-smart agricultural objectives of agricultural productivity, climate change adaptation and mitigation. The tool was implemented in two villages in the state of Madhya Pradesh, India. The tool performs well in simulating village water balance and its impact on the yield of rainfed and irrigated crop areas. Results show that considerable differences exist within the portfolio of land and water interventions, with only a combination of supply, demand and moisture conservation practices being able to help achieve climate-smart agricultural objectives. In the best case scenario, yield can be increased by up to 10% and greenhouse gas emission intensity reduced up to 17%. Comparison with stakeholder perception analysis highlights the utility of this tool in providing additional quantitative information in the decision-making process

A comparison of stochastic models for generating daily precipitation at the H. J. Andrews Experimental Forest

A comparison of stochastic models for generating daily precipitation at the H. J. Andrews Experimental Fores

Methodological Issues in Assessing Impact of Watershed Programmes

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