Focus: Mains- GS 3- Agriculture
Why in news?
- One of the first evidences of the medium to long-term impact of large scale, permanent environmental deterioration on rural populations in developing countries – the paper, ‘Way Down in the Hole: Adaptation to Long-Term Water Loss in Rural India’, was published in the American Economic Review
- The analysis is based on villages in Karnataka where groundwater is a vital source of irrigation but has been depleted by a combination of a prolonged, multi-year drought, and intensive extraction.
- 102 villages selected from 31 sub districts in eastern part of Karnataka were the base of the study
Recommendations
- The issue is complex one as the groundwater resources in the area are limited
- Water conservation needs to incentivized
- Adoption of highly water efficient irrigation technology is the need of the hour
- Recharge of groundwater
- Creation and rehabilitation of existing surface water sources
Off farm employment strategies suggested
- Developing industrial location around the farms
- Skilled jobs in manufacturing and services sector
- Vocational training and skill development course to be offered in such areas
