Integrated water resource management to address the growing demand for food and water in South Asia

Anonymous — Wed, 07 Jul 2021 11:37:09 +0000

TypeJournal Article

Languageen

Authors

Birendra, K. C.
McIndoe, I.
Schultz, B.
Prasad, K.
Bright, J.
Dark, A.
Pandey, Vishnu Prasad
Chaudhary, A.
Thapa, P. M.
Perera, R.
Dangi, D. R.

With the increasing population and accelerated urbanization, demands for water are rising for different sectors around the world, including in South Asia. Integrated water resource management (IWRM) offers a promising potential to address multifaceted water demands. This study therefore aimed to address this issue by (i) reviewing key issues related to water, land, and food in South Asian countries, (ii) exploring the prevalent irrigation management strategies in those countries, and (iii) examining the IWRM situation based on a Nepalese case study, and it proposes some options to support effective implementation of IWRM. South Asia, the home to 24% of the world's population with only 15% and 7% of the world's arable and permanent crop land and water resources, respectively, is the worst-affected region in the world from undernourishment. Surface irrigation is the dominant irrigation application method in the region, which incurs high water losses due to the lack of flexible water control structures in canal networks. The Nepalese case study revealed a lack of clear institutional arrangements to implement IWRM and disparate and conflicting views about IWRM. Creation and strengthening of basin-level water user organizations, technological improvements, and awareness-raising activities are some potential ways forward to implement IWRM.

Citation

Birendra, K. C.; McIndoe, I.; Schultz, B.; Prasad, K.; Bright, J.; Dark, A.; Pandey, Vishnu Prasad; Chaudhary, A.; Thapa, P. M.; Perera, R.; Dangi, D. R. 2021. Integrated water resource management to address the growing demand for food and water in South Asia. Irrigation and Drainage, 70(4):924-935. [doi: https://doi.org/10.1002/ird.2590]

Accessibility

Limited Access

Research Themes

Variability, Risks and Competing Uses

Permalink

https://hdl.handle.net/10568/113611

Assessment and use of agricultural biodiversity for landscape and ecosystem restoration

Amanda — Tue, 10 Oct 2017 09:30:00 +0000

Intra-specific diversity of crops is one of the principle mechanisms used by small holder farmers in low input agricultural landscapes to maintain and restore resilience and production in agricultural landscapes. Deliberate use of intra specific crop diversity in farmers field can be a productive alternative to agrochemicals. Assessment to the amount and distribution of functional intra-specific diversity for annual and perennial crops in agricultural landscapes is needed to be able to improve access to diversity and information on this diversity to restore and maintain resilience and productivity in agricultural landscapes. Benefits to farmer or farming communities from their use of local diversity, are necessary to identify the different ways of using genetic diversity within production systems to restore and maintain agricultural landscapes. The work focuses on (I) the use perennial horticultural crops to rehabilitate saline and water scarce environments, (ii) the role crop and pasture genetic diversity on farm to buffer and rehabilitate lands under unpredictable environmental change, (iii) the role of on farm crop genetic diversity to restore ecosystem services to regulate pest and diseases.

Contact Person

De Santis, Paola <p.desantis@cgiar.org>

Donors

Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO)

Government of Italy

CGIAR

Partners

Bioversity (Alliance) - Alliance of Bioversity and CIAT - Headquarter (Bioversity International), CAAS - Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, CATAS - Chinese Academy of Tropical Agricultural Sciences, CENESTA - Center for Sustainable Development and Environment, EBI - Ethiopian Biodiversity Institute, FAO - Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, Government of Iran, IAV - Institut Agronomique et Vétérinaire Hassan II, IER - Institut d’Economie Rurale (Mali), IFAD - International Fund for Agricultural Development, Inner Mongolia Agricultural University, INRAN - Institut National de la Recherche Agronomique du Niger, Kunming Institute of Botany, LI-BIRD - Local Initiatives for Biodiversity, Research and Development, Ministry of Agriculture (Sri Lanka), Ministry of Agriculture and Water Resources (Uzbekistan), MOE - Ministry of Environment (Sri Lanka), MUC - Minzu University of China, NARC - Nepal Agricultural Research Council, NARO - National Agricultural Research Organisation (Uganda), NCARE - National Center for Agricultural Research and Extension, PAR - Platform for Agrobiodiversity Research, Royal Government of Bhutan, TSAU - Tashkent State Agrarian University, UN Environment - United Nations Environment Programme, WSU - Washington State University

Completed

Start/End dateJanuary 01, 2017 — December 31, 2021

Research ThemeRestoring Degraded Landscapes

Cluster

1.1 Landscape Restoration

Regions

Global

Countries

Bhutan, Burundi, China, Ecuador, Ethiopia, Iran, Jordan, Mexico, Morocco, Uganda, Uzbekistan

Topics:

Ecosystem services