New Delhi, Dec 10 (Inditop.com) Prime Minister Manmohan Singh Thursday called for greater synergy between the country’s agriculture and water policies to secure food supply, particularly for the poor and vulnerable sections of the population.
Inaugurating the fifth Asian Regional Conference (ARC) here, Manmohan Singh said improvement in irrigation efficiency was key to improving agricultural productivity and sustainable water use.
The focal theme of the conference was “Improvement in Efficiency of Irrigation Projects through Technology Upgradation and Better Operation and Maintenance”.
An assessment of the irrigation system indicates that efficiencies of surface water systems can be improved from the present level of 35-40 percent to about 60 percent and that of groundwater systems from the existing 65 percent to about 75 percent, he said.
“Utilisation of created irrigation potential is another crucial issue and only about 84 percent of the created irrigation potential has been utilised so far in the country.”
According to the prime minister, there is a need to increase investment in agricultural technologies, particularly those related to improved crop practices and water savings.
“The first Green Revolution came due to innovations developed in the public sector. The second Green Revolution may well come from technologies developed in the private sector,” he said.
The fifth Asian Regional Conference is being held along with the 60th international executive meeting (IEC) of the International Commission on Irrigation and Drainage.
Professionals from 39 countries are participating in the meetings to deliberate on issues such as modernisation of public irrigation system, public private partnership in irrigation development, impact of climate change on water resources availability and legal aspects in sharing of water resources.
Pointing to estimates that say world food demand could double in the next two decades, Manmohan Singh said it would translate into huge demand for water.
“It has been said that just as the conflicts of the 20th century were often over the sharing of scarce petroleum resources, those of the 21st century will probably be over the sharing of water,” he said.
“Nowhere are these challenges more pressing than in Asia.”
The prime minister added that the spectre of climate change would also have an unpredictable consequence on the water regime.
“Various studies point towards its adverse impact on the hydrologic cycle that could result in the intensification of both temporal and spatial variations in precipitation.”
Manmohan Singh also said challenge of managing our water resources in a rational and sustainable manner would require action on many fronts and the government was addressing these complex inter-relationships through the formulation of a National Water Mission.
The government wants to double the annual rate of growth of agriculture in India to 4 percent during the 11th Plan Period (2008-12) and hopes to add about 16 million hectares to the irrigated area in the same period.
The ARC and IEC, which conclude Friday, are being hosted by the ministry of water resources and the Central Water Commission along with the Indian National Committee of Irrigation and Drainage.
