PM seeks greater synergy between agricultural, water policies

Voicing concern over climatic distortions adversely affecting ground water table and impacting crop productivity, prime minister Manmohan Singh today sought greater synergy between agricultural and water policies.

"This year we had floods in Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh and elsewhere. At the same time around 300 districts of the country were declared as drought affected. These imbalances will only intensify with climatic distortions. Moreover, there are concerns that climate change may also adversely impact ground water table and its quality, affecting crop productivity," he said.

Improvement in irrigation is key not only to step up agricultural productivity but also the strategy for sustainable water use, he said.

"There has to be greater synergy between our water and agricultural policies with a view to securing food supply," the prime minister said.
 
Addressing the inaugural session of the 5th Asian Regional Conference of International Commission on Irrigation and Drainage here, Singh said that in order to address the complex inter-relationships between different sectors of the economy, the government has formed the National Water Commission, which is among the eight missions part of National Action Plan on Climate Change.

With climate change set to have unpredictable consequences on water regime, the action plan, he said, aims at increasing water use efficiency by 20 per cent and promote basin level integrated water resources management.