Agriculture remains the mainstay of Indian economy; contributing 14 per cent of Gross Domestic Product (GDP) and with its allied sectors like forestry and fisheries employing 50 per cent of the countryys workforce. Indiaas demand for food grains will be at 240 million tonnes by the end of the XII Five Year Plan (2012-2017). Enhanced agricultural production will require increased use of water for irrigation. In India, some of the major challenges in agriculture water management relates to aging infrastructure and low water efficiency. Climatic changes will impact water availability and will pose a threat in times to come. Attaining efficiency in irrigation, developing ways to minimize losses and use of technology that uses less water to produce more per unit of land will be critical is meeting the increasing food demand simultaneously reducing the impact on environment.

The report Sustainable Agriculture Water Management highlights some of the best practices adopted by the industry in minimizing freshwater intake and enhancing food production.

The case studies included in the publication demonstrate the efforts of Indian companies (namely Coca Cola India, Pepsico India, Monsanto India, Jain Irrigation and ITC Limited) who have undertaken large scale measures to reduce the freshwater intake in agricultural production. The water conservation measures adopted by companies range from direct seeding of rice, use of drip and sprinkler irrigation, rainwater harvesting and watershed management. The development of low cost technologies and its use for better irrigation scheduling is an important area of work which is receiving major attention.

In addition to significant amount of water savings, the above interventions have also yielded savings on electricity, reduced manual labour to irrigate fields and enhanced the productivity ensuring better economic returns to the farmers.