Enhancing Energy Efficiency in Irrigation A Socio-Technical Approach in South India

Descripción

This work deals with the very timely theme of enhancing energy efficiency in irrigation, exemplified by a pilot project in the state of Andhra Pradesh in India. Notwithstanding its declining contribution to the national gross domestic product, a natural corollary to the development process, the agricultural sector in India is still crucial to the all-round development of the nation. The sector currently employs nearly half of the population and has a critical role to play in the attainment of the national goals of increasing food security and reducing rural poverty. The temporal growth pattern of the Indian economy in the last decades bears out the direct and significant relationship to the state of agriculture today. In the last fifty years, Indian agriculture has made tremendous progress, initiated by what is commonly known as the Green Revolution. Food production rose from 82 million tons in 1960–1961 to an estimated 263.2 million tons in 2013– 2014. The Green Revolution was primarily characterized by employment of a package of practices—seeds, fertilizer, irrigation, and plant protection measures— to be supported by strong institutions. Irrigation occupied a pivotal role among these mainsprings of production growth, enabling the cultivation of two or more crops per year from the same piece of land. Due to huge investments in irrigation, the irrigated area in India now exceeds 63 million hectares, the largest of any country in the world.

Detalles

Otros Libros de "Energia"