Water scarcity: A global hindrance to sustainable development and agricultural production – A critical review of the impacts and adaptation strategies
Water is essential for sustaining life and required for carrying out basic daily activities. Even though water covers the vast majority of the earth’s surface, the availability of fresh water, which is necessary to maintain human activities, is limited, making it a scarce resource. Climate change, o...
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| Format: | Article |
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Cambridge University Press
2025-01-01
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| Series: | Cambridge Prisms: Water |
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| Online Access: | https://www.cambridge.org/core/product/identifier/S2755177624000169/type/journal_article |
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| author | Auindrila Biswas Sourakanti Sarkar Sumanta Das Suman Dutta Malini Roy Choudhury Anmol Giri Bimal Bera Koushik Bag Bishal Mukherjee Koushik Banerjee Debaditya Gupta Debasish Paul |
| author_facet | Auindrila Biswas Sourakanti Sarkar Sumanta Das Suman Dutta Malini Roy Choudhury Anmol Giri Bimal Bera Koushik Bag Bishal Mukherjee Koushik Banerjee Debaditya Gupta Debasish Paul |
| author_sort | Auindrila Biswas |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Water is essential for sustaining life and required for carrying out basic daily activities. Even though water covers the vast majority of the earth’s surface, the availability of fresh water, which is necessary to maintain human activities, is limited, making it a scarce resource. Climate change, overexploitation of groundwater, and population growth are all putting significant pressure on natural water sources, which pose a serious threat to various sectors of society, especially in agriculture. Future projections of freshwater availability indicate agriculture production will suffer a significant shock globally, including in India, leading to a threat to food security and sustainability. To ensure the sustainability of this vital resource, it is crucial to use water sensibly. Moreover, it is essential to adopt certain strategies to manage agricultural water use effectively. This includes adopting various water-efficient techniques such as ‘micro-irrigation’, ‘irrigation scheduling’, ‘conservation agriculture’, ‘crop switching’ and so on. In this review, firstly, we discuss water scarcity and its types, causes, crisis for water shortages and hindrance to sustainable development from a global perspective emphasizing the Indian scenario as a developing nation. Secondly, we elaborated our discussion on water scarcity in agriculture including the impacts of water scarcity on agricultural production and its connection to climate change, population growth, and overexploitation of natural resources globally focusing on the Indian scenario. In addition, innovative water management practices and adaptation strategies to manage agricultural water use, constraints, and the need for further research are also covered. It is anticipated that this review will benefit researchers and policymakers by providing useful information on the impacts of water limitation and adoption strategies. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-3d8e164027724839a58f6296826e46df |
| institution | Kabale University |
| issn | 2755-1776 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2025-01-01 |
| publisher | Cambridge University Press |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Cambridge Prisms: Water |
| spelling | doaj-art-3d8e164027724839a58f6296826e46df2025-01-16T21:50:24ZengCambridge University PressCambridge Prisms: Water2755-17762025-01-01310.1017/wat.2024.16Water scarcity: A global hindrance to sustainable development and agricultural production – A critical review of the impacts and adaptation strategiesAuindrila Biswas0Sourakanti Sarkar1Sumanta Das2https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6573-2902Suman Dutta3Malini Roy Choudhury4Anmol Giri5Bimal Bera6Koushik Bag7Bishal Mukherjee8Koushik Banerjee9Debaditya Gupta10Debasish Paul11Department of Agricultural Economics, Bidhan Chandra Krishi Viswavidyalya, Nadia, West Bengal, IndiaDepartment of Agricultural Economics, Bidhan Chandra Krishi Viswavidyalya, Nadia, West Bengal, IndiaRamakrishna Mission Vivekananda Educational and Research Institute, Howrah, West Bengal, India School of Agriculture and Food Sustainability, The University of Queensland, St Lucia, Queensland, AustraliaRamakrishna Mission Vivekananda Educational and Research Institute, Howrah, West Bengal, IndiaRamakrishna Mission Vivekananda Educational and Research Institute, Howrah, West Bengal, India School of Agriculture and Food Sustainability, The University of Queensland, St Lucia, Queensland, AustraliaDepartment of Agricultural Economics, GIET University, Rayagada, Odisha, IndiaDepartment of Agricultural Economics, Bidhan Chandra Krishi Viswavidyalya, Nadia, West Bengal, IndiaICAR- Research Complex for North Eastern Hill Region, Umiam, Meghalaya, IndiaDepartment of Agronomy, School of Agriculture and Allied Sciences, The Neotia University, Sarisa, West Bengal, IndiaICAR-Mahatma Gandhi Integrated Farming Research Institute, Piprakothi, Bihar, IndiaSchool of Agro and Rural Technology, Indian Institute of Technology, Guwahati, Assam, IndiaICAR-Central Institute for Cotton Research, Sirsa, Haryana, IndiaWater is essential for sustaining life and required for carrying out basic daily activities. Even though water covers the vast majority of the earth’s surface, the availability of fresh water, which is necessary to maintain human activities, is limited, making it a scarce resource. Climate change, overexploitation of groundwater, and population growth are all putting significant pressure on natural water sources, which pose a serious threat to various sectors of society, especially in agriculture. Future projections of freshwater availability indicate agriculture production will suffer a significant shock globally, including in India, leading to a threat to food security and sustainability. To ensure the sustainability of this vital resource, it is crucial to use water sensibly. Moreover, it is essential to adopt certain strategies to manage agricultural water use effectively. This includes adopting various water-efficient techniques such as ‘micro-irrigation’, ‘irrigation scheduling’, ‘conservation agriculture’, ‘crop switching’ and so on. In this review, firstly, we discuss water scarcity and its types, causes, crisis for water shortages and hindrance to sustainable development from a global perspective emphasizing the Indian scenario as a developing nation. Secondly, we elaborated our discussion on water scarcity in agriculture including the impacts of water scarcity on agricultural production and its connection to climate change, population growth, and overexploitation of natural resources globally focusing on the Indian scenario. In addition, innovative water management practices and adaptation strategies to manage agricultural water use, constraints, and the need for further research are also covered. It is anticipated that this review will benefit researchers and policymakers by providing useful information on the impacts of water limitation and adoption strategies.https://www.cambridge.org/core/product/identifier/S2755177624000169/type/journal_articleeconomic and physical water scarcityagricultural water managementwater use efficiencysustainable developmentmitigation and adaptation |
| spellingShingle | Auindrila Biswas Sourakanti Sarkar Sumanta Das Suman Dutta Malini Roy Choudhury Anmol Giri Bimal Bera Koushik Bag Bishal Mukherjee Koushik Banerjee Debaditya Gupta Debasish Paul Water scarcity: A global hindrance to sustainable development and agricultural production – A critical review of the impacts and adaptation strategies Cambridge Prisms: Water economic and physical water scarcity agricultural water management water use efficiency sustainable development mitigation and adaptation |
| title | Water scarcity: A global hindrance to sustainable development and agricultural production – A critical review of the impacts and adaptation strategies |
| title_full | Water scarcity: A global hindrance to sustainable development and agricultural production – A critical review of the impacts and adaptation strategies |
| title_fullStr | Water scarcity: A global hindrance to sustainable development and agricultural production – A critical review of the impacts and adaptation strategies |
| title_full_unstemmed | Water scarcity: A global hindrance to sustainable development and agricultural production – A critical review of the impacts and adaptation strategies |
| title_short | Water scarcity: A global hindrance to sustainable development and agricultural production – A critical review of the impacts and adaptation strategies |
| title_sort | water scarcity a global hindrance to sustainable development and agricultural production a critical review of the impacts and adaptation strategies |
| topic | economic and physical water scarcity agricultural water management water use efficiency sustainable development mitigation and adaptation |
| url | https://www.cambridge.org/core/product/identifier/S2755177624000169/type/journal_article |
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