A Water Footprint Analysis for Agriculture in India
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Date
2016
Authors
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Journal ISSN
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Publisher
Division of Agricultural Economics ICAR - Indian Agricultural Research Institute New Delhi
Abstract
The ‘water footprint’ of a product is the volume of freshwater used to produce it
measured at the place where it was actually produced. The water footprint of a country is
defined as the volume of water needed for the production of goods and services consumed
by the inhabitants of the country. The concept was developed to provide an indicator of
water use in relation to consumption, both from domestic production and imports.
‘Virtual water’ is water used in the production process but is not physically contained
within the product. The two concepts are analogous and are quantified using similar
metrics but provide distinct perspectives to understanding water use. The virtual water
content of an agriculture product consists of ‘Green’ virtual water - rainwater that
evaporated during production; ‘Blue’ virtual water - surface water or ground water that
evaporated during production and ‘Grey’ virtual water - water polluted during production.
The study attempts to estimate the water footprint for agriculture in India and the virtual
water traded through cereals, pulses, oilseeds, cash crops, fruits and vegetables using
secondary published data on production and trade. Estimates of virtual water were
obtained using a modification of the method given by Hoekstra and Hung while the blue
and green water components of virtual water were estimated following the method
proposed by Chapagain and Orr.
Total water used for agriculture production in India in the year 2007-08 was
estimated at 962.17 billion cubic metres (bcm). The water footprint for consumption from
domestic production was estimated to be 911.25 bcm, accounting for 95 per cent of the
total agricultural water footprint. India was a net exporter of virtual water (50.91 bcm).
Cereals leave a large water footprint, both in terms of domestic consumption and virtual
water imports. One tonne of rice was produced using an average of 3571.91 m3
of water
in India. The kharif season average was 3650.62 m3 and the rabi season average was
3279.20 m3
. Among the States, Maharashtra left the largest agriculture water footprint
estimated at 80.95 bcm, accounting for 8.88 per cent of the country’s agriculture water
footprint. Per capita water footprint in the country was estimated to be 76,547 litres. The
Gini coefficient for State-wise per capita water footprint was 0.388 indicating inequity in
distribution of water used for crop production.
Virtual water, which establishes the ‘invisible link’ between the consumers and
the producers, was positive for cereals, pulses, oilseeds and vegetables, indicating a net
outflow of water. It was negative for fruits and cash crops. Certain crops and their
products that are traded in large quantities and also had large water footprints are critical
in terms of virtual water flows. Estimates indicated that India was inefficient in using
water in the production of key products that it exports thereby leading to a loss in global
water resources. Rice and products contributed the largest share to virtual water trade and
India was an inefficient user of water in rice production.
The total water demand for domestic consumption of agriculture produces was
estimated at 911.25 bcm. Total annual utilizable water resource was estimated at 1123
bcm. Only 80 per cent of this was available for use in agriculture and the quantity is
decreasing fast. The water scarcity index showed that with 80 per cent of water
availability, the index was 1.01 and it increased to 1.35 if the water availability declined
to 60 per cent of the total annual utilizable water resources, clearly reflecting the
increasing water shortages faced in the country. The net virtual water flow was estimated
at 24.93 bcm. The dependency index was a small positive value of 0.03, indicating very
little dependence on virtual water inflows. The country is an exporter of virtual water, in
absolute terms. Even with virtual water inflows not being available, India was still self
sufficient to meet domestic demand for crop production.
Gujarat, Rajasthan, Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh, Punjab and Haryana show high
dependence on blue water using it to meet more than 75 per cent of the crop water
requirement in more than 50 per cent of crops. Majority of States show moderate
dependence and three show low dependence on blue water. It was also observed that a
kharif crop grown in rabi such as rabi rice, rabi maize, and rabi sunflower required more
water, mostly blue water. Thus there is a tradeoff between producing a crop with more
water in kharif or less water in rabi but most of it being blue water. The economic value of
water was the highest when used for production of onion and lowest for sugarcane. Water
was valued ten times higher in onion production relative to any of the cereals, pulses or
oilseeds. The opportun
Description
t-9338
Keywords
A Water Footprint Analysis for Agriculture in India