Andhra Pradesh Priorities: Water Resource Management - Kumar

1. Water
M. Dinesh Kumar,
Institute for Resource Analysis and Policy, Hyderabad
Andhra Pradesh Priorities Conference, Vijayawada June 18-20

2. Topic importance
• Andhra Pradesh (AP) has the mission to become ‘drought proof’
•Rayalaseema region in AP is hot and dry region experiencing frequent
meteorological droughts
• Only about 30% of the cropped area is irrigated in Rayalaseema
•Farming is susceptible to the vagaries of monsoon
• Tanks which are important source of water for rural economy have
been driven into disuse
•Explosion of well irrigation in the tanks’ catchment and command areas
•Inter-annual rainfall variability (24%-35%) having an impact
•Small and marginal farmers are the biggest victims

3. Topic importance contd.
• Rich well owning farmers abstract groundwater at the expense of the
poor
•Mainly grow cash crops such as tomato, papaya, grapes, guava and citrus fruits
•Excessive groundwater use by them results in drying up of the shallow wells,
mostly owned by small and marginal farmers
• For boosting agricultural growth and reducing rural poverty in the
region, rural community’s physical and economic access to water
need to be enhanced
•Tanks can play an important role in achieving this
•To address groundwater depletion and manage agricultural water demand,
drip irrigation along with on-farm water management practices can be useful

4. 1st analyzed solution
Irrigation Expansion through Water Transfer from a Surplus Region to Augment
Existing Irrigation Sources (Tanks)

5. Description of the solution
• Overall, there are about 12,900 tanks in Rayalaseema (GoAP, 2016)
• Spatial differences in runoff generating potential of the catchments
provide opportunities for water transfer from the comparatively
water-rich regions (parts of Kurnool) to the water-scarce regions
(Anantapur, Chittoor, and Cuddapah), mainly during drought years
• Around 1200 MCM per annum of water is proposed to be transferred
from Srisailam reservoir through link canals, which is mainly the flood
waters of Krishna (IRAP, 2017)
• Additional storage space available in the tanks during a drought year
is about 1,700 MCM (IRAP, 2017)

6. All the costs
• Annualized cost of transfer of surplus water from the donor basin,
including cost of conveyance infrastructure and drainage works is
estimated to be INR 4,653 per ha
• Annual operation and maintenance cost of the system would be
around INR 2,000 per ha
• Overall annualized cost will be INR 43.2 crore
•Assuming that the additional water will be used to irrigate land mostly under
paddy (major crop in the region) cultivated during winters (around 65000 ha)
• System life is considered to be 25 years. Discount rate of 5% is
applied. All figures are in 2017 prices

7. All the benefits
• Annual incremental net return for farmers from availability of
additional water from tanks is estimated to be INR 9,236 per ha
• Indirect benefits (annual) in the form of positive externalities include:
•INR 14,229 per ha from groundwater recharge from the tanks
•INR 1,020 per ha due to energy saving on account of reduced groundwater
pumping
• Overall, annual incremental returns and indirect benefits will be INR
159.2 crore
• All figures are in 2017 prices

8. Total costs, total benefits and cost-benefit ratio
Discount rate
3% 5% 8%
Annualized Cost
(INR/ha at 2017
prices)
5,789 6,653 8,248
Annual Private
Benefits (INR/ha
at 2017 prices)
9,236 9,236 9,236
Annual Social
Benefits (INR/ha
at 2017 prices)
24,485 24,485 24,485
Private BCR 1.60 1.39 1.12
Social BCR 4.23 3.68 2.97

9. 2nd analyzed solution
Water Saving through Drip Irrigation and Mulching in High Value Crops

10. Description of the solution
• In Rayalaseema, water saving through adoption of efficient irrigation
technologies is desirable and necessary to boost agricultural productivity
• As per the estimates for erstwhile Andhra Pradesh, about 12.65 lakh ha of
irrigated area can be brought under water saving technologies (IRAP, 2012)
• Along with the practice of mulching, which reduces evaporation from the
bare soil surface and suppress weed growth, this can lead to significant
water saving at the field scale
• Already, farmers in the Rayalaseema region are growing tomatoes in net
houses with drip system and plastic sheet as a mulch cover
• Subsidies are available from the state government for adoption of this
technology

11. All the costs
• Annualized capital cost of drip installation and plastic mulch coverage
is INR 53,782 per ha of cropped area
• About 30,000 ha of land per annum have been covered under drip in
Rayalaseema during the last 11 years (2003-04 to 2015-16)
• Considering the same pattern, the overall annualized cost will be INR
161.3 crore
• System life is considered to be 10 years for drip and one season for
mulch. Discount rate of 5% is applied. All figures are in 2017 prices

12. All the benefits
• Annual incremental net return per ha of land covered by the
technology is INR 2,51,140
• Economic value of indirect annual benefits in the form of positive
externalities include:
•INR 19,288 per ha for water saving benefit (considering there is no increase in
irrigated area)
•INR 2,411 per ha for energy saving on account of reduced groundwater
pumping
• Overall, annual incremental returns and indirect benefits will be INR
818.5 crore.
• All figures are in 2017 prices

13. Total costs, total benefits and cost-benefit ratio
Discount rate
3% 5% 8%
Annualized Cost
(INR/ha at 2017
prices)
48,370 53,782 55,511
Annual Private
Benefits (INR/ha
at 2017 prices)
2,51,140 2,51,140 2,51,140
Annual Social
Benefits (INR/ha
at 2017 prices)
2,72,839 2,72,839 2,72,839
Private BCR 5.19 4.67 4.52
Social BCR 5.64 5.07 4.92