Irrigation Command Area Research Articles

Optimizing Irrigation Strategies for Groundnut Using Weap-Mabia: A Decision Support Method for Agricultural Scenarios in Unchdi Section, Shetrunji Irrigation Command Area

Optimizing Irrigation Strategies for Groundnut Using Weap-Mabia: A Decision Support Method for Agricultural Scenarios in Unchdi Section, Shetrunji Irrigation Command Area

Low-cost Mobile Solar Operated Lift Irrigation System : A Case Study

Effective and judicious use of irrigation water contributes a lot for the management of crop growth and increase in productivity. In the light of increasing demand for irrigation in the state of Assam(India) and to cover the non irrigated area as well as to continue the supplies for the irrigated command area, it becomes imperative to look for a holistic and people centric Low Cost Innovative Irrigation technique. Irrigation water can be assured at every crop field provided we set our mind and put concerted efforts to address it. This paper highlights the Irrigation scenario in Assam with a case study on Low Cost Solar Operated Mobile Lift Irrigation in Assam, for its continuance and contribution towards growth in Agricultural Productivity. This innovation in Irrigation Sector can cause Social transformation by bringing in the development of Agriculture and other allied Sectors. An attempt was also made to establish the economic and operational benefits of the system by making a comparison amongst the different lift Irrigation Schemes in the State. The study advocates for utilization of the non conventional solar energy for irrigating the multiple crops by lifting the surface water sources in the State of Assam by using the Low Cost Solar Operated Mobile Surface Lift Irrigation System. The paper also presents the financial analysis and Key Performance Indicators of the System with a highlight on its diversified application for disaster preparedness and mitigation on the part of Stakeholder Departments with a primary aim to increase Irrigated agriculture productivity

Drainage of irrigated agriculture in Bihar, India—Some issues

AbstractIrrigation development has been taking place for centuries in India. Considerable areas of fertile land under irrigated agriculture have gone out of production due to waterlogging and salt‐related problems. The provision of drains was deferred or postponed in several projects due to shortage of funds during the initial stages. Because of this fact, the productivity of water (t ha⁻¹ mm⁻¹) in India still remains very low. The main reason for the low yields is improper water management, especially lack of drainage in irrigated command areas. There are vast areas in the country urgently requiring drainage works and the present governmental resources are not adequate to cope with the growing demand. Promotion of the private sector in reclamation work and installation of subsurface drains at local level needs encouragement. All these issues together with the research activities inclusive of drainage materials undertaken by different organizations are critically described and discussed in this paper.

Application of artificial neural networks for time series rainfall forecasting in the Loktak lift irrigation command area of Manipur, India

AbstractThe primary source of water for irrigation and other agricultural activities is rainfall. It has an immediate effect on crop growth and productivity. Forecasting this rainfall in advance allows farmers to effectively plan their cropping pattern. In recent years, forecasting rainfall has become very popular due to the availability of the latest computation techniques. Artificial neural networks (ANNs) are one such technique widely used for rainfall prediction by a number of researchers. These models are more reliable as they make better predictions because of their nonlinear data learning method. In the present study, an ANN model was developed to predict the annual, monsoon and postmonsoon season rainfall. The model was developed using 34 years of data from 1985 to 2018 in the command area of the Loktak Lift Irrigation Project in Manipur, India. The ANN model was trained using the rectified linear unit (ReLU) activation function. The 3‐year input model excelled in all seasons, with the best model achieving a 0.36 coefficient of determination (R2), 75.7 root mean square error, 0.60 correlation coefficient and 62.5 mean absolute error. These performance indicators were comparable with studies performed by other researchers. Thus, the model can be adopted for the study area.

Determination of Suitable Plant Types in an Irrigation Command Area Using IWQI Method

Irrigation water quality of has an essential roles in growing crops by farmers. Agricultural crops can produce superior products if they have good irrigation water quality. Irrigation water quality index (IWQI) is a method to evaluate the quality of irrigation water. This research aim at applying the IWQI in the Sukorejo Secondary Channal to determine suitable plants within the command area with the criteria of tolerance relative to salt. The research was performed by measuring some parameters including the content of Na+ (sodium), Cl– (chloride), HCO3– (bicarbonate), electrical conductivity (EC), and sodium adsorption ratio (SAR), as well as soil permeability. Results of this study showed that the Sukorejo Secondary Channal delivering irrigation water IWQI value of 61.54. Measurements also revealed the soil has a moderate to high level of permeability. Recommendation that can be given is the use plants with moderate amounts of water consumption with moderate tolerance to salt levels. Recommended plants according to IWQI value include corn, soybean, wheat, rice, tomato, cabbage, tobacco, mustard greens, celery, lettuce, papaya, pineapple, pumpkin, peanuts, cucumber, broccoli, tomato, cabbage, eggplant, spinach, potato, watermelon, radish. Keywords: Alkalinity, IWQI, Plants, Salinity, Water quality

Evaluation of drainage water quality for irrigation reuse in Kulfo and Hare irrigation command areas, southern Ethiopia

Abstract Water from agricultural drainage systems can be reused when its quality is good or blended with irrigation canal water to overcome the water shortage. The primary goal of this research was to determine the quality of surface drainage water in the Kulifo and Hare irrigation projects for irrigation reuse. Water quality was evaluated in situ and in the laboratory during the irrigation season of 2022. Turbidity, TDS, pH, EC, and DO were analyzed in the field using an Aqua meter. Fifty-seven water samples were collected and analyzed for the major cation (Na+, Ca2+, K+, and Mg2+) and anion (HCO3−, CO32−, Cl−, and SO42−). The result of the drainage water quality index study, according to the water quality index for irrigation purpose reuse, ranged from 47.84 to 84.89. This indicated that the suitability of drainage water reuse for irrigation purposes was categorized as ‘poor to very poor,’ except in Shara community-managed farms. Therefore, to avoid the impact on soil quality for crop production due to the hazard of poor agricultural drainage water for irrigation reuse in the study area, it needs to be treated before being reused for irrigation purposes, except at the Shara irrigation community-managed farm.

Assessments of an Innovative Fertilizer Management Tool (Nutrient Expert®) for Improved Nutrient Management of Spring Maize at Rani Jamara Kulariya Irrigation Command Area of Tikapur, Kailali

A multi-locational field trials were assessed to know the innovative fertilizer management tool (Nutrient Expert®) for improved nutrient management of Spring Maize in Rani Jamara Kulariya Irrigation Project Command Area (RJKIPCA) of Tikapur, Kailali during spring season of 2021. The layout and planting of Spring Maize for NE® - Hybrid Maize model for 42 farmers’ fields (Tikapur-18, Janaki-18 and Lamkichuha-6)], and Nutrient Omission Plot Technique (NOPT) maize trials for 21 farmers’ fields (Tikapur-9, Janaki-9 and Lamkichuha-3) were grown using baby trail/ diamond trials in Randomized Complete Block Design (RCBD) considering farmers as replications. Data recording, tabulation, and analysis and interpretation of the data was performed by using ANOVA through the use of R Stat-software. Data analysis was also done for the yield gap analysis using percentage change in yield of Spring Maize over the location due to changes in crop cultivars and NOPT. The experimental results highlighted that most of the soils in the project site were deficit in N followed by K, with the minimum yield loss due to omission of P. The treatment; farmers' fertilizer practices (FFP) with their own cultivar has shown more decreasing trend in Spring Maize yields and it was more prominently seen within the farmers growing hybrid maize than the open pollinated variety (OPV). With huge percentage of yield gaps in Spring Maize denoted that the soil of Janaki and Tikapur were found to be more prone to N and K nutrients deficient than the soils of Lamkichuha. NE®- Hybrid Maize model has fairly predicted the Spring Maize yields and predicted the sound results on profitability with assured actual attainable yield over the FFP. Therefore, NE-model for Spring Maize is suggested to adopt as a recommended decision support system (DSS) tool in the project command areas of RJKIPCA, Tikapur, Kailali.

Effect of climate change on reservoir water balance and irrigation water demand: a case of Gidabo irrigation project, Rift Valley Basin, Ethiopia.

The consequences of climate change on agriculture water demand are among the current and prospective challenges. The amount of water needed by crops is significantly affected by the regional climate. The influence of climate change on irrigation water demand and reservoir water balance components were examined. The results of seven regional climate models were compared, and the top-performing model was chosen for the study area. After model calibration and validation, the HEC-HMS model was used to forecast future water availability in the reservoir. The results show that under the RCP 4.5 and RCP 8.5 emission scenarios, the reservoir's water availability in the 2050s will decline by approximately 7% and 9%, respectively. The CROPWAT results showed that the required irrigation water might rise by 26 to 39% in the future. However, the water supply for irrigation may be drastically reduced due to the drop in reservoir water storage. As a result, the irrigation command area could drop up to 21% (2878.4ha) to 33% (4502ha) in future climatic conditions. Therefore, we recommend alternative watershed management techniques and climate change adaptation measures to endure upcoming water shortages in the area.

Temporal remote sensing based soil salinity mapping in Indo-Gangetic plain employing machine-learning techniques

Soil salinization is one of the most active land degradation processes, affecting predominantly arid, semi-arid, and dry sub-humid regions and leading to decreased agricultural yields. The Indo-Gangetic plain, which includes the irrigated command areas with arid and semi-arid climatic conditions are severely affected by secondary soil salinization. Assessing the spatial and temporal extent as well as the severity of salinization is an important step for adoption of proper reclamation measures to boost agricultural productivity in the salt affected areas. The study was conducted with this background to evaluate the extent and severity of soil salinization in alluvial plains of Mathura district of Uttar Pradesh, India. In this study, the satellite data of 6 months from January 2019 to June 2019 were pre-processed and various spectral indices were generated in Google Earth Engine. Remote sensing techniques provides an ideal platform for addressing this problem at larger scales and thus we employed Sentinel-2 derived vegetation and salinity spectral indices for distinguishing temporal change in severity of soil salinization and map the salinity as a function of these indices for the entire study area. The time series salinity analysis showed that among the various spectral indices Ratio Vegetation Index (RVI), Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) and Normalized Difference Soil Index (NDSI) had a clear differentiation between slight, moderate and severe salinity class in the first three months of the study period and the Salinity Index II (SI_II) could differentiate for the first four months. Further, two machine learning algorithms namely Random Forest (RF) and Support Vector Machine (SVM), were used to create soil salinity prediction models making use of the soil Electrical Conductivity (EC) values of 115 ground-sampling sites as the predictand variable and the optimal spectral indices as the predictor variables. Further, we evaluated the prediction ability of different models using 12 and 24 variables combination using R2 and RMSE values. The prediction accuracy of the RF model was found to be slightly higher than that of the SVM model, and the spatial distribution pattern of soil salinity predicted by the two models were comparable. We concluded that spectral indices combined with machine learning techniques have the potential for low cost reliable spatial and temporal soil salinity distribution mapping for planning and implementation of salinity reclamation measures.

Cropping Scenario in Water User Associations (WUAs) Managed Groundwater Irrigation System’s Command Area in West Bengal

The groundwater irrigation, catering to more than 60 per cent of total irrigation in India, has significantly contributed to food grains production. Participatory irrigation management programme has been implemented transferring irrigation management to WUAs. Present study was undertaken during 2019 to explore cropping scenario in groundwater irrigation command under jurisdiction of WUAs in Burdwan district of West Bengal covering a random sample of 120 farmers. It is revealed that paddy was the major crop in both kharif and summer season. During rabi season, potato was grown in larger areas followed by mustard. While all 120 farmers had grown paddy as single crop in kharif season, 100 and 82 farmers have cultivated potato and mustard in rabi season and 75 farmers have grown boro rice during summer season. Cultivated land utilization index value was more than 50 per cent. Crop diversity index (CDI) value of 36 per cent showed lack of crop diversification in groundwater irrigation command areas that warrants need of bringing more areas under different crops. Multiple cropping index of 176 per cent showed a higher cropping intensity in groundwater irrigation command. Thus, Extension advisory services need to promote crop diversification in groundwater irrigation command areas through proper crop planning and capacity building of WUAs.

Impact of Climate Change on Crop Water Requirement in Kamala River Basin of Nepal

The future climate which has crucial role of any hydrological events that occurs within basin will have more uncertainty. Changing the climatic variables, the water balance of the basin will more unpredictable. Not only will climatic parameter changes but also adversely affected the water management within the basin. In this study, an attempt has been carried out to compare the future River flow of Kamala basin and future water demand of Kamala irrigation command area. The CROPWAT and AQUACROP model, based on climatic, soil and crop data, was used to estimate the future Crop Water Requirement (CWR), Irrigation Water Requirement (IWR) and Biomass yield. The hydrological station, because not exist within basin, was not possible to simulate the future river flow of the Kamala basin using any hydrological model. Therefore, the WECS method is simply used to forecast the future monthly flow of Kamala River. The two emission scenarios, ssp245 and ssp585 were conducted based on cropping intensity 170% and 300 % and IWD for each sub-scenario over 12 months was estimated. For the first sixth months, IWR is increased in the future period as maximum and minimum temperature increases and the IWR for monsoon season is less required due to increases in precipitation and again for the post-monsoon season, IWR is increased compared as historical IWR. The highest irrigation water requirement occurs in March month under ssp245 and ssp585 and CI 300%. Whereas, July and August months have the lowest irrigation water demand under ssp245 and ssp585 scenarios. Based on the finding, the production of crop with irrigation system has higher than rainfed system. For paddy, the rainfed system produced dry yield of 6.58 ton/ha whereas, dry yield of irrigated field has 7.05 ton/ha. The future river flow is insufficient to meet the irrigation water demand in first five months in near future under both ssp245 and ssp585 scenarios. The magnitude of deficiency in ssp585 is comparatively higher than in ssp245. As a result, all of these findings suggest that the crop waterrequirement of KIP is insufficient in the future to provide a year-round irrigation system.

Irrigation area, efficiency and water storage mediate the drought resilience of irrigated agriculture in a semi-arid catchment

We examined the effects of hydrological variables such as irrigation area, irrigation efficiency and water storage on the resilience of (mostly commercial) irrigated agriculture to drought in a semi-arid catchment in South Africa. We formulated a conceptual framework termed ‘Water, Efficiency, Resilience, Drought’ (WERD) and an accompanying spreadsheet model. These allow the resilience of irrigated agriculture to drought to be analysed via water accounts and a key resilience indicator termed Days to Day Zero (DDZ). This represents the number of days that a pre- and within-drought supply of catchment water available to irrigation is withdrawn down to zero in the face of a prolonged drought. A higher DDZ (e.g. >300 days) indicates greater resilience whilst a lower DDZ (e.g. <150 days) signals lower resilience. Drought resilience arises through land and water management decisions underpinned by four types of resilience capacities; absorptive, adaptive, anticipative and transformative. For the case study, analyses showed that irrigators, with currently approximately 23,000 ha under irrigation, have historically absorbed and adapted to drought events through construction of water storage and adoption of more efficient irrigation practices resulting in a DDZ of 260 days. However, by not fully anticipating future climate and water-related risks, irrigators are arguably on a maladaptive pathway resulting in water supply gains, efficiency and other practices being used to increase irrigation command areas to 28,000 ha or more, decreasing their capacity to absorb future droughts. This areal growth increases water withdrawals and depletion, further stresses the catchment, and reduces future DDZs to approximately 130 days indicating much lower drought resilience. Our approach, supported by supplementary material, allows stakeholders to understand the resilience consequences of future drought in order to; reconcile competition between rising water demands, consider new water storage; improve agricultural and irrigation planning; and enhance catchment governance.

Securing Flows in the River Systems through Irrigation Water Use Efficiency—A Case Study from Karula River in the Ganga River System

The pressure on freshwater resources is leading to diminishing flows in some of the critical river systems across the globe. India is no exception, and this is mainly because of water withdrawal for irrigation, which is often to the tune of 70% to 80% of the lean season flows, with some proportion for domestic and industrial use. While graduating from the concept of environmental flows and its assessment methodologies in India, the water-managers, the researchers and the conservationists are now moving towards answering the next question, if the rivers are to be revived, where will the water come from, especially in the case of over-allocated rivers, including the River Ganga. While the logical way is to look at the biggest user of water, i.e., irrigation, it remains to be seen whether the irrigation water savings will actually lead to enhancing flows in a river, complementing the efforts towards maintaining e-flows in rivers, or whether it will lead to more area under agriculture, bring changes in cropping patterns towards more water-intensive crops or result in something else. This is a growing debate across the globe, where India is no exception, and there has been a wide range of opinions in this regard. This paper discusses the process, findings and lessons from a joint initiative involving farmers, the Uttar Pradesh state Irrigation and Water Resources Department, Bijnor District Administration and a conservation organisation, WWF, to enhance flows in a sub-tributary, called the Karula River, which is part of the Ganga River system. Another objective of this paper is to look at the scalability and replicability of similar approaches in other irrigation command areas to benefit nearby river systems in general. Under this initiative, the team attempted to enhance flows in the river Karula by routing the saved water from irrigation supplies in a canal commanded area. This saving of water is being achieved due to supply-side and demand-side measures that are being adopted in the project area. With the objective of ensuring the sustainability of the initiative, efforts are made to form an institutional arrangement, through which this initiative can be sustained beyond the project support.

Sustainability of Boro rice cultivation in the canal irrigated command area of India

Abstract A comprehensive assessment and monitoring of rice intensification in canal irrigated command areas and its consequences on groundwater dynamics have enormous importance for the water–food–energy nexus. This study analyzed the spatiotemporal transition of Boro rice cultivation, canal irrigation practices during the cultivation season, and its effect on groundwater of a pioneering multipurpose water resource project in India. The rice maps from 1989 to 2018 were generated from Landsat and Sentinel-2A images using the Iterative Self-Organizing Data Analysis Technique Algorithm (ISODATA), the normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI), and the enhanced vegetation index (EVI) to understand the historical distribution of rice cultivation. The ISODATA clustering algorithm performed well compared to the NDVI and the EVI with medium-resolution satellite images. The impact of Boro rice cultivation on groundwater resources was investigated by considering GLDAS NOAH model-based crop evapotranspiration, rainfall, and canal water supply. The area under rice cultivation increased from 33 to 66% during 1989–2018 due to its higher stress tolerance ability and productivity. However, during the cultivation period, the canal water supply was limited to the upstream and middle section of the command area, irrigating only 19% of the rice-cultivated area on average. The unavailability of the canal water supply during the cultivation season has led to 31 m of groundwater level depletion, which, if unchecked, may lead to overexploitation of groundwater in the middle and lower sections of the command area. The results of this study can be used to identify vulnerable areas that require urgent attention and accurate implementation of any agricultural or hydrological policy.

Economic feasibility of subsurface drainage (SSD) to control waterlogging and soil salinity under different scenarios in the Tungabhadra project command, Karnataka, India

AbstractThe Tungabhadra irrigation command area (TBP) in Karnataka, India, has three scenarios: the head, mid and tail reach command areas. The head reach has ample good quality canal water availability, and the mid reach area has limited canal water availability. In recent decades, rice–rice monocropping in vertisols, especially by these head and mid reach farmers, has led to not only water shortages but also the development of waterlogging and secondary soil salinization in the tail (lower) reach of the command due to seepage. As the soil salinity in the head reach was less severe, a slightly wider drain spacing of 60 m was adopted over 15 ha. In the case of the mid reach, salinity was slightly higher than the head reach but slightly less than the tail reach, hence 50 m drain spacing was laid out over 24 ha. Due to the slightly higher soil salinity at the tail end of the command, a closer drain spacing of 40 m was adopted over 11 ha. In all these scenarios, the drain depth was 1.0 m. Despite differences in irrigation water availability and different soil salinity conditions, the study clearly indicated over six seasons that the SSD system is a viable solution for the reclamation of waterlogged saline soils and enhancing rice productivity in all three scenarios of the TBP command.

WATER MANAGEMENT IN GHATERA BABAJI MINOR IRRIGATION PROJECT, MADHYA PRADESH, INDIA

Water is a vital component of nature, which brings life in land; therefore the judicious utilization of water is needed for all types of human advancement. India is a monsoon dependent country for its water resources. Irrigation sector has been fundamental to India’s economic development and poverty alleviation, since 25% of India’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) and 65% of employment are based on agriculture (MOWR GOI, 2006). The world’s total irrigated area was 249.5 M ha in 2011 in which India has 21.7% share in irrigated area in the world. The global consumption of water in agriculture is around 71% of the total water use (FAO, 2008). Considering the importance of irrigation management and the water user’s participation in increasing water productivity and the development of existing irrigation command area, this study was carried out to assess the present irrigation system of command area and to perform diagnostic study for the possible improvement in command area of Ghatera Babaji tank canal situated in Betwa River basin. The study area has a gross command area of 147 ha out of which cultivable area are 127 ha. Irrigation is supplied during Rabi season in about 121 ha. Main canal is 1360 m long with a slope of 1 in 1000. The command area has 101 land holdings ranging from 0.23 ha to 6.32 ha belonging to 87 farmers. Majority of farmers have small and marginal holdings (up to 2 ha), middle age (&gt; 39 yrs) and with low income (&lt; Rs 50,000 per annum) and have education up to primary or middle school level. The basic infiltration rate varies from 0.2 cm/hr to 2.4 cm/hr. The major crop of the area is Wheat followed by small area under Gram and Vegetable during Rabi, whereas, Soybean is grown during Kharif season. Discharge measured in main canal varies from 0.066 m3 /sec at head reach to 0.013 m3 /sec at tail reach. Discharge reaching to farmer’s field is changing from 3.82 to 5.36 lps. Seepage losses in main canal are measured to be 38.83 m3 / Mm2 to 16.04 m3 / Mm2 wetted area. Overall irrigation efficiency is computed to be 35 per cent. Productivity of Wheat crop varies from 4.5 to 35.1 q/ha which when converted to water productivity ranges from 0.33 to 1.55 kg/m3 . Water productivity for Gram varies from 0.97 kg/m3 to 1.86 kg/m3.

Sources of spatial variability of soil salinity: the case of Beni Amir irrigated command areas in the Tadla Plain, Morocco

The origins and spatial variability of salinity within irrigated plots are a constraint to good long-term field management. Regional depletion of groundwater resources, as well as soil salinization, have been reported in the Tadla plain, a key production area in Morocco. In the northwestern part, water supply is provided only by the local water table, whose evolution in level and salinity over the last 24 years has been analyzed. A mapping of 17 plots was carried out by electromagnetic induction (ECa) after calibration of the measurements with salinity (R 2 = 0.94). These plots are cultivated with different crops (wheat, olive, sugar beet, alfalfa, carrots) with little or no crop rotation, or left fallow. The results highlight two main factors of salinization. On the one hand, the type of crop leads to salinization that increases according to water needs, which are rarely satisfied, thus favoring the accumulation of salts in the upper part of the soil profile. This first factor explained 80 to 85% of the variance in ECa measurements. On the other hand, the gravity irrigation method associated with numerous leaks is responsible for an unequal distribution of water within the plots, associated with 15–20% of the variance. These results confirm the current unsustainable management of this hydro cultural system and highlight the need for better access to quality water and improved irrigation technology. A development proposal is briefly presented.

Exclusions in the Cambodian irrigation sector: perspectives from Battambang province

This article offers a case study in Battambang province that examines agrarian and land dynamics in an irrigated command area. Building on the “powers of exclusion” framework developed by Hall, Hirsch and Li, we show how irrigation reshapes socio-spatial configurations locally and reinforces the dynamics of social differentiation between smallholder farmers. We argue that the uneven geography of water and the transformation of land ownership structures to which the irrigation project in question contributes run in the opposite direction of a pathway that would support the development of inclusive pro-smallholder irrigation.

Cropping pattern and schedule using K-Factor for optimizing irrigation networks operation in Krueng Jreu Irrigation Area, Aceh, Indonesia

Determining the cropping pattern and schedule according to the availability and requirement of irrigation water is important in an irrigation command area. Supplying irrigation water in the Krueng Jreu Irrigation Area is still less effective in the dry season, so it is necessary to review the existing cropping pattern and schedule in the irrigation area by considering the K factor. To achieve optimal irrigation networks operation, simulation of cropping patterns and schedules based on the K factor was conducted. Optimal cropping patterns and schedules were determined by the highest frequency of the half-month K factor greater than 0.75. The best cropping pattern and schedule for Krueng Jreu Irrigation Area was rice-rice-soybean cropping pattern with first planting season started in mid-July, second planting season in mid-November and third planting season in mid-March. The results achieved the best frequency of K factor > 0.75 as many as 15 times, K factor in the range of 0.50 - 0.75 as many as 3 times, and K factor < 0.25 as many as 4 times. The application of the selected cropping pattern and schedule was done by allocating water into three groups in case of the K factor < 0.75, namely Group I (Menara and Krueng Aceh Extension secondary canal), Group II (Krueng Jreu Kiri secondary canal) and Group III (Kayee, Lamkrah, and Inong secondary canal).

Do risk management strategies prevent economic and non‐economic loss and damages? Empirical evidence from drought affected households in western India

AbstractVarious transformative and curative measures have been undertaken as part of the disaster risk reduction and climate change adaptation program to mitigate risks from extreme events in India. Studies have so far explored the causal relationship between these options and economic loss and damage; however, there is a gap in the context of non‐economic loss and damage in general, and drought in particular. This study, therefore, aims to investigate the role of risk management options in preventing economic and non‐economic risks from droughts in western India. Irrigation and crop insurance are found to be the most frequently used adaptive measures among the sample households. Overall, this study reveals that irrigation mitigates damage risks, whereas crop insurance fails to smoothen consumption, particularly the non‐economic risks, which is in contrast to expectation. From the policy perspective, the study recommends expansion of irrigated command area with a large‐scale adoption of resource efficient technologies, and revisiting the existing insurance mechanism for effective risk management and large‐scale adoption.