Andhra Pradesh - Others   

Water, food shortage ruled out till 2025

Staff Reporter

IWMI working on models that deal with irrigation and subsidised power, says McCornick

Peter McCornick

Patancheru: Peter McCornick, Director (Asia), International Water Management Institute (IWMI), has said that there will be no severe shortage of water or food till 2025.

Speaking on the sidelines of the two-day international conference on `Linkages between energy and water management' at Icrisat here on Tuesday, he said this was found out in a comprehensive assessment of the water and food scenario in the world done by his institute.

However, he pointed out that the study predicted trouble in the arid regions if water was not properly managed. Mr. McCornick said that IWMI had been working on models that deal with irrigation and subsidised power in developing countries.

Rationing of power

The official said that he would suggest a model where power could be rationed among farmers of a village to solve the demand and supply problem. Taking the American model on co-generation of power, he said localised power generation with the help of bio-fuels was a good alternative. Citing the example of farmers of the semi-arid regions like Andhra Pradesh taking up water-intensive sugarcane, he observed that sweet sorghum for ethanol would be a viable option whereas sugarcane was suitable to the eastern parts of the country.

IWMI is currently working in the Krishna basin area, looking into social, livelihood and hydraulic aspects of the localities that depend on the river, particularly on the Musi.

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