Water conservation in agriculture a key necessity for India's water security - entails water footprint based allocation of water

New Delhi, Oct.30 (ANI): Experts attending the India Water Forum 2013 said that conservation of water in agriculture is a key necessity for water security in the country.

The Energy and Resources Institute (TERI) in association with Ministry of Drinking Water and Sanitation, and the Ministry of Urban Development organized India Water Forum 2013 on the theme 'water use efficiency'.

In the three-day international convention, which began on October 28, it was noted that with future scenarios likely to worsen, it is extremely important to adopt new technologies like drip and sprinkler irrigation at a wider scale.

It was noted that there is a strong need for cooperative, basin-scale, cross-sectoral approach for integrated water resources management.

However, this should be integrated with efforts taken at local level in every watershed of the basin, and should ensure the community participation especially youth and women.

New concept related to water regulation and pricing need to be evolved which included best practices like water market comprising of entitlements and allocations, water rights, water footprint based approach for water allocation, water auditing for various users especially industries, desalination etc. were also discussed.

It was further noted that based on local situations, new approaches need to be evolved, and intensive research on various issues related to water, keeping into consideration climate change should be conducted. (ANI)

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