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From Uttar Pradesh, India: Finding Sustainable Irrigation Solutions

Currently, the Northern Indian state of Uttar Pradesh produces just enough food
for its population of 190 million. Poor irrigation methods and crop management are rapidly depleting the state’s water table. Most smallholder farmers cannot afford new wells and are looking for alternative methods to reduce their water consumption but still improve their livelihoods.

The goal of our project is to find mechanisms for improving agricultural production, increase farmer incomes, and foster sustainable agricultural practices through reduced water consumption and improved land management. We are seeking to match or enhance the expected performance while further reducing costs of irrigation systems that are currently marketed to smallholder farmers throughout the developing world. We hope to develop a model that can be used by development organizations to recommend the most appropriate systems for their client farmers.

In June, we traveled to Uttar Pradesh, India for field work. We are collaborating with Value Development Initiatives (VDI), a development company based in London, and Sarathi Development Foundation, a local NGO out of Lucknow.  We spent five days in two villages meeting with farmers, landowners and women’s groups discussing agricultural practices and determining the need for improved irrigation techniques.

We also met with numerous individuals at every level of the agricultural supply and policy chain. Our trip concluded with a visit to the iDE-India demonstration farm outside of New Delhi, and met with the Vice President of technical development.

We gained a strong understanding of agriculture in Uttar Pradesh and found a growing demand for improved irrigation systems by smallholder farmers. We are now planning to run an experiment looking at the different low-cost irrigation systems available in India.  The combined results from the fieldwork and experiment will help us make recommendations on products and practices appropriate for farmers in central Uttar Pradesh.

Curran Hughes, Graduate Student, International Agricultural Development
Jesse Dylan Keith, Graduate Student, Agricultural Resource Economics

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