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Description
Significant water supply-demand gaps are projected in many regions of India under current climate change and population growth scenarios. Agriculture in India accounts for around 90% of freshwater withdrawals and 65% of the irrigation water is sourced from groundwater (Devineni et al., 2022; World Bank, 2022). Farmers in many regions receive subsidies for water intensive cropping systems and subsidised electricity for groundwater pumps leading to widespread groundwater over-exploitation (Fishman, 2018). Many rural populations in India are highly dependent upon agricultural development and access to water to support food security and livelihoods (Blakeslee et al., 2020). The government in India is considering and implementing different measures to better manage water, e.g. water metering, water pricing, incentives to reduce water abstractions, decreasing energy subsidies, or community-based water management. Also, informal water markets (or pump rental markets) are widespread in India; however, their impacts are largely unknown and under-researched due to a paucity in related data. Their development is attributed to an unequal access to irrigation resources (water and energy) dominated by larger/wealthier water sellers that own (deeper) wells, modern pumps (e.g. heavy-duty, submersible pumps) and have surplus supply of water and energy. Small/marginal farmers often lack necessary irrigation infrastructure and access to deeper wells. As such, less-endowed farming communities can face increased irrigation water costs because of lower groundwater levels (Chaudhuri et al., 2021). On the one hand, informal water trading may increase equity in access giving farmers that do not own wells or pumps access to water (Mukherji, 2007). There may also be positive effects for water conservation and water use efficiency in case farmers face higher costs for irrigation water (Manjunatha et al., 2011). On the other hand, unmonitored informal water markets can cause water resources over-exploitation and also give wealthier water sellers a significant amount of power over less-endowed farmers (Dubash, 2000).
We investigate the impacts and drivers of farmers’ irrigation water purchases using a large representative national survey for India over two years. We are particularly interested whether there is an association between increased irrigation water purchases and characteristics of local (water) governance, (water) conflicts and memberships as well as the diversity of access to water sources. It is also expected to find a difference for related expenditures when purchasing from private as compared to government tubewell owners. We use a subset of the farm level data from the India Human Development Survey (IHDS) covering all irrigating farms (n=19,330). In addition, we collected precipitation (mm/day), temperature and groundwater storage (percentile) data from NASA Earthdata and merged the district level average statistics with the survey data. We estimated several probit models for the survey years separately and combined (pooled cross-section), and separately for groundwater and surface water. As an extension we estimated the models by State, focussing on those states with large-scale irrigation areas and a sufficient number of irrigation farms, such as Uttar Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh. Furthermore, fixed-effects panel regression models were estimated to examine determinants of farmers’ irrigation water expenditure per year and per acre (INR/acre). A Heckman sample selection model was further tested. Modelling results for both models (groundwater and surface water) show that, after accounting for several control variables, irrigation water purchases were more likely where: a) Groundwater levels were already low; b) Farmers have access to both water sources; and c) Farmers have no access to public piped drinking water supply. Particularly in groundwater irrigation areas, purchases were also more likely where: a) Conflicts are prevalent within the village; b) Families solve (water supply) conflicts individually; c) Farmers are not members in a cooperative; and d) Farmers have low confidence in State or village government. Furthermore, modelling results for irrigation water expenditure showed a strong association between increased expenditure INR/acre when purchasing mainly from private tubewell owners as compared to government tubewell owners.
There is a need for future research to examine this dataset at local spatial scales and per different irrigation types, because of highly varied irrigation systems in India. This is reflected in the different results for the state-specific models. Results underpin, on the one hand, the severity of the state of India’s groundwater resources and, on the other hand, issues regarding community cohesion and confidence levels regarding local governments. Local networks may need to be reinforced, such as water users associations, accompanied by participatory approaches to provide for better water sharing systems. Studies have shown that better water governance systems improve the cooperation among stakeholders and the resilience in communities. Overall, there is a need for better regulation and monitoring in water management, e.g. with regards to informal water markets and related subsidies, to provide for the long-term sustainability of irrigation communities. At the same time, different water-related policies need to take into account the effects of multiple implemented measures as well as the existence of informal water markets.
Key words: irrigated agriculture, groundwater, informal water markets, India
References
Blakeslee D, Fishman R and Srinivasan V (2020) Way Down in the Hole: Adaptation to Long-Term Water Loss in Rural India. American Economic Review 110(1): 200–224.
Chaudhuri S, Parakh D, Roy M, et al. (2021) Groundwater-sourced irrigation and agro-power subsidies: Boon or bane for small/marginal farmers in India? Groundwater for Sustainable Development 15: 100690.
Devineni N, Perveen S and Lall U (2022) Solving groundwater depletion in India while achieving food security. Nature Communications 13(1): 3374.
Dubash NK (2000) Ecologically and Socially Embedded Exchange: 'Gujarat Model' of Water Markets. Economic and Political Weekly 35(16): 1376–1385.
Fishman R (2018) Groundwater depletion limits the scope for adaptation to increased rainfall variability in India. Climatic Change 147(1): 195–209.
Manjunatha AV, Speelman S, Chandrakanth MG, et al. (2011) Impact of groundwater markets in India on water use efficiency: A data envelopment analysis approach. Journal of Environmental Management 92(11): 2924–2929.
Mukherji A (2007) Implications of Alternative Institutional Arrangements in Groundwater Sharing: Evidence from West Bengal. Economic and Political Weekly 42(26): 2543–2564.
World Bank (2022) World Water Day 2022: How India is addressing its water needs (accessed 30.01.23).
