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IRMA Water Centre

Completed

Water footprint of the Dairy Sector in India: An analysis of water requirement, production, profitability and conservation (IWC and VKCOE)

India is the highest producer of milk, accounting for 21% of the global milk production. The production has been consistently rising by 4-4.5% annually, higher than the growth in human population. As the world’s largest milk producer, India’s bovine economy annually generates 180 MMT of milk worth $70 billion in monetary value each year. With growing income and rising population, India’s milk demand is expected to double to more than 350-400 MMT by 2050. The climate change presents a formidable challenge to India’s dairy ambitions. Climate change is a threat to dairying because of changes in temperature and scarcity of water. The main pressing concern is the increasing scarcity of water due to extreme weather events. Indian dairying has a high-water footprint, and its major production hotspots – Punjab, Haryana, North Gujarat, Western UP, and Tamil Nadu- are in severely water-stressed regions. Dairy farming is a water intensive activity involving not only direct consumptive water use as drinking and cleaning water for animals, but also indirect water embedded in the feed. Sustainable Water Management i.e. balancing the competing water needs with inextricable linkages to food security, sustainable rural development, industrial growth, and ecosystem services is a challenge for our country today. Water footprint can be used as a tool for sustainable dairy farming. Water footprint calculates the total volume of water used to produce the milk, including direct and indirect use.


The objectives of the study are:

  1. To analyze the water requirement of the dairy sector in India at different levels- nutrition, processing and cleaning.
  2. To compare the water requirement with the output given by different variety of breeds.
  3. To give policy recommendations on possible water conserve and management by rationalizing water usages.
  4. To understand the feasibility of AI and IOT use in water management in the dairy farm.

Solar Irrigation for Agricultural Resilience in South Asia (SoLAR- SA) projects aims to sustainably manage the invidious water- energy and climate interlinkages in South Asia (Bangladesh, India, Nepal and Pakistan) through the promotion of solar irrigation pumps (SIPs). Solar Irrigation pumps that have been installed till now in India are mostly off-grid. Since irrigation demand for energy is limited to 100-150 days in a year, off- grid SIPs risk low asset utilization of expensive panels and waste of capital. The objective of the study is to carry out an assessment of the progress, performance and impact of Chief Minister’s Saur Krishi Vahini Program in Maharashtra from the perspective of DISCOMs, farmers and state and central government.

Most of the large-scale government programs bank on the convergence of existing and new schemes for implementation at the Gram Panchayat (GP) level. The task of understanding all the different schemes/programs under which the GP qualifies for funds, their guidelines and boundaries, and expectations from each of them often lies squarely on the GP officials. And more so, they are expected to navigate through the different funding instruments and find the exact programs/schemes from which a certain work must be done. The ongoing large water programs are no different in this regard. Atal Bhujal Yojana (ABhY) which has an entire disbursement linked indicator (DLI #3) on the effective use of public financing and alignment of various programs on groundwater. This programme has people at the “first mile” who work with communities to prepare these participatory plans which help programs move forward. Being the unit of change, it only makes sense that these planners understand the convergence opportunities and the quantum of funds to make better plans.

The objectives of the study are:

  1. Creating visibility to the funds available from different sources for each activity in the GP along with expertise necessary to understand processes.
  2. Developing models for making funds visible at the GP level and scaling them to be adopted across the country.

Tribal Population comprises 8.6% of India’s total population. Officially designated as Scheduled Tribes, the tribal communities in India are predominantly located in central and in northeastern part of the country. The Central Indian Tribal Belt consists of Rajasthan, Gujarat, Maharashtra, Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, Madhya Pradesh, Telangana, Andhra Pradesh, and West Bengal; and is home to more than 75% of the total tribal population of India. However, areas inhabited by Tribal populations are neglected in many ways, be it education, health, or infrastructure facilities such as roads, electricity, and irrigation. Such facilities are critical for enhancing the quality of life and it is therefore important to assess the gaps in the availability of these services in Tribal especially in comparison to Non-Tribal areas of the country.


This tribal population represents the poorest community in India. Household income data as per the Socio-Economic Caste Census 2011 shows that close to 85% ST households in Gujarat have monthly incomes of less than Rs 5000. The state average, although still bad, is slightly better off with 70% of all households earning less than Rs 5000 per month. This data shows the poorer earning opportunities available to STs in Gujarat. Similar trends could be observed in Jharkhand, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, and Chhattisgarh.


The Major objectives of the study are:

  1. Comparative Analysis of implementation (status, process and system) and results of different policies, programmes and schemes in terms of water management for drinking and irrigation purposes in five states with significant tribal population - Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh, Jharkhand, Chhattisgarh, and Maharashtra.
  2. Analyze the budgetary allocation and its process for state level and central schemes for availability of water for irrigation and drinking in tribal areas of the five states.
  3. To understand through Case Studies the success or failure in execution of policy/schemes/programmes for water management in tribal areas of Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Maharashtra, and Jharkhand.
  4. To make policy recommendation and suggest other relevant measures for enhancing access to water for irrigation and drinking purposes for tribal households in the five states.