http://117.252.14.250:8080/jspui/handle/123456789/6822 2026-04-05T19:44:15Z http://117.252.14.250:8080/jspui/handle/123456789/6830 Contents National Institute of Hydrology 2002-01-01T00:00:00Z http://117.252.14.250:8080/jspui/handle/123456789/6829 1-Environmental Impacts of Agricultural Water Management in India - An Overview Samul, R. P. Increasing human and livestock population along with significant developments in the various fields of agriculture has brought more and more lands under irrigation using mostly canal, dam, lift, and underground water through surface irrigation methods. With these improved agricultural practices, the food grain production has increased from 50.8 m tonnes in 1950-51 to 185 m tonnes in 1994-95. In this process of increasing productivity we have exploited our natural resources indiscriminately which in turn have resulted into various environmental degradations especially soil degradation. Out of various agricultural management practices, excess and intensive irrigation has been found to contribute more degradation than use of chemical fertilizers and pesticides, deforestation and other agronomic pesticides. Various physical and chemical changes that have already occurred and measures to be adopted to prevent such changes have been highlighted. Some of the important environmental issues related to agricultural water management and agricultural development in the country have been briefly discussed 2002-01-01T00:00:00Z http://117.252.14.250:8080/jspui/handle/123456789/6828 2-Drought Mitigation and Farming System Research in India. Singh, H. P.; Sharma, K. D. The drought-prone areas in India suffer from spatial and temporal variations in agricultural productivity. Traditional subsistence agriculture in vogue in these regions further enhances their vulnerability to drought. Consequently, crop failures are frequent; even famine like situations are at times encountered. This paper deals with drought, its causes and consequences, and discusses farming systems and practices prevailing in the drought prone areas of India. Based on the present scenario, strategy for drought mitigation with focus on on-farm research in a farming system perspective is suggested The strategy also includes the phasing of interventions with short, medium and long-term goals. Farmers participation in technology development, early warning, drought monitoring and decision support systems, contingency crop planning are considered important as strategic measures for mitigating the effect of droughts. Various options for soil and rainwater conservation, crop management, integrated nutrient management, development of water resources and alternate land use systems, with watershed development approach have been categorized under short, medium and long-term measures for technology development and application. The paper advocates agro-eco zone based consortia development and suggests a structure for on-farm research including capacity building of the farmers in drought-prone areas of India. 2002-01-01T00:00:00Z http://117.252.14.250:8080/jspui/handle/123456789/6827 3-Environmental Concerns of Water Resources Projects - An Overview. Goel, R. S. India has to support 15% of the world's population with only 2% of world's land and only 4% of the world's water supply. Preserving the quality and the availability of the freshwater resources is the most pressing of the many environmental challenges on the national horizon. Due to the large temporal variations in river flows in India, storage of water becomes inevitable. This articles highlights the adverse and beneficial environmental impacts of water resources projects in India citing numerous Indian examples. The assessment procedures and management practices have also been briefly included 2002-01-01T00:00:00Z