World Water Day: Prof Swaminathan


Chennai, March 22, 2018: The importance of water to all forms of human security needs hardly any emphasis. Therefore every nation should have a National Water Security Policy based on community participation and scientific data. In India we should develop immediately a water security policy consisting of the following five components:

  1. Groundwater which is really controlled by rainfall and by the water holding capacity of the aquifer
  2. Surface water which again is regulated by a rainfall and by the melting of snow in the hills. All the major rivers fall under this category
  3. Sea water which constitutes 97% of the world’s water resource. Sea water farming should become a method of agriculture in coastal areas
  4. Rainwater which is a source of most of the water systems
  5. Recycled water based upon recycling waste water

While the above will help to augment supplies we need concurrently a strategy for demand management. For example, considerable amount of water used in agriculture can be saved through methods like drip and sprinkler irrigation. Conjunctive use of water will also help to use economically different sources of water particularly ground and surface water. Demand management can also be achieved through the selection of appropriate crops based on moisture availability. Three dimensional farming can be adopted to benefit from both water and sun.