Abstract

Irrigation is crucial for agricultural development and climate change adaptation, especially in emerging economies where it is dominated by small-scale farming. However, where irrigation has been successfully applied, it also tends to be depleting water resources in an unsustainable manner, threatening future development and food security. India is perhaps where this crisis is most acute. Are there technological and policy solutions that can achieve a more sustainable trajectory? Will India’s agriculture be able to adapt to scarcity? The talk will review a range of field studies that examined the effects that pricing, technology dissemination and scarcity have on irrigation practice in India.

Practical information