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An interdisciplinary framework for using archaeology, history and collective action to enhance India’s agricultural resilience and sustainability

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Relation http://oar.icrisat.org/11632/
https://doi.org/10.1088/1748-9326/aba780
doi:10.1088/1748-9326/aba780
 
Title An interdisciplinary framework for using archaeology, history and collective action to enhance India’s agricultural resilience and sustainability
 
Creator Green, A S
Dixit, S
Garg, K K
Sandya, N R
Singh, G
Vatta, K
Whitbread, A M
Jones, M K
Singh, R N
Petrie, C A
 
Subject Sustainable Agriculture
South Asia
Water Resources
 
Description South Asia has a deep history of agriculture that includes a range of past farming systems in
different climatic zones. Many of these farming systems were resilient to changes in climate and
sustainable over long periods of time. India’s present agricultural systems are facing serious
challenges, as they have become increasingly reliant on the unsustainable extraction of
groundwater for irrigation. This paper outlines an interdisciplinary framework for drawing on
patterns from the past to guide interventions in the present. It compares past and present strategies
for water management and use in semi-arid and temperate Punjab with equatorial Telangana.
Structural differences in water use in these two regions suggest that a range of interventions should
be adopted to expand the overall availability of surface water for agricultural systems in India, in
combination with empowering local communities to create their own water management rules.
Active interventions focus on the efficient use of water supplies, and increasing surface water
availability through renovation of collective ponds and reservoirs. We argue that this conceptual
framework has significant potential for guiding agronomic and economic interventions in the
future.
 
Publisher IOP Publishing
 
Date 2020-10
 
Type Article
PeerReviewed
 
Format application/pdf
 
Language en
 
Identifier http://oar.icrisat.org/11632/1/Green_2020_Environ._Res._Lett._15_105021.pdf
Green, A S and Dixit, S and Garg, K K and Sandya, N R and Singh, G and Vatta, K and Whitbread, A M and Jones, M K and Singh, R N and Petrie, C A (2020) An interdisciplinary framework for using archaeology, history and collective action to enhance India’s agricultural resilience and sustainability. Environmental Research Letters, 15 (10). pp. 1-14. ISSN 1748-9326