(00472)Changing Cropping Patterns and Irrigation Practices: Implications for Promoting Sustainable Growth of Agriculture in West Bengal, India

摘要

The relationships between availability of irrigation facilities and changes in cropping patterns, especially in an agrarian economy like India, require deeper investigation for rational use of water and promoting sustainable growth of agriculture sector. The existing studies generally focus on how access to irrigation can change cropping patterns. Accordingly, policy changes and institutional arrangements are suggested to provide the farmers greater access to irrigation facilities. While this is imperative to promote inclusive agricultural growth, ensuring its sustainability requires exploring how changes in cropping patterns subsequently affect extent and patterns of irrigation. In this perspective, the present paper attempts to understand how changes cropping patterns have affected irrigation requirements and its structures in the Indian state of West Bengal. While deeper investigation at micro level is necessary to draw more robust conclusions, initiatives should be taken towards guiding the farmers towards choice of appropriate cropping patterns for more judicious use of water. The local level institutions like water users' association should play a crucial role in this regard.