UTILIZATION OF AGRICULTURAL WATER AND ECONOMIC GROWTH

Abstract

South Asia region has the largest agricultural land area and has the largest irrigated system for agriculture – abstracts groundwater for irrigation purposes. The world is facing water scarcity issues and South Asia is also facing the water-stressed due to high population growth. This study tried to examine the impact of water utilization in the agriculture sector and examined the agriculture sector impact on economic growth in South Asian countries. Water utilization means growth in the agriculture sector and it may cause an increase in economic growth. The study used data from South Asian countries (Pakistan, India, Bangladesh, Afghanistan, Sri Lanka, Nepal, Bhutan and Maldives) from 2001 to 2018. Data has been observed through graphical representation to understand the relationship of variables of interest. The results of the research showed that the utilization of water in analyzed countries is one of the reasons for the development of agriculture. Moreover, the development of agriculture may, among other factors, positively affect economic growth. In all the South Asian countries, utilization of water is not efficient some countries utilized the maximum amount of water and get more agricultural growth. Some countries utilized the minimum amount of water and got less agriculture growth. Pakistan, India and Sri Lanka utilized a large amount of water and got more agricultural growth. Afghanistan, Nepal and Bangladesh utilized less amount of water and got less agriculture growth. So, this is not an efficient way of getting agricultural output. Due to old techniques of agriculture production in South Asia, it causes the wastage of water. The developed countries use less input and get more outputs because of this modern era of technology. Also, results revealed that agriculture growth has a positive impact on economic growth for all these countries such as Pakistan, India, Sri Lanka, Afghanistan, Nepal and Bangladesh. It means South Asian countries are agricultural base countries.