Abstract:
Virtual water refers to the water required in the production of goods or services. The adjective 'virtual' refers to the fact that most of the water used in the production is in the end not contained within the product. The virtual water concept has two types of practical use. First, virtual water can be seen as an alternative source of water and thus can be an instrument to achieve regional water security. Secondly, the virtual water content of a product tells something about the environmental impacts of consuming this product.
When goods and services are exchanged, so is the virtual water and this refers to virtual water trade. Many studies have estimated the virtual water trade between various countries. India is a country with large geographical area (3.29 Mkm2) and the culturable area is 1.43 Mkm2. The annual average precipitation is about 4000 km3. There are large variations in climate and land productivity. There is large disparity among various states in production of food grains. Some of the states contribute food grain to the central pool and some withdraws food grain from the central pool. This paper quantifies the volume of virtual water export/import from/to various states of India to/from central pool related to trade of major food grains i.e. wheat, paddy and rice.
