Water Productivity and Food Security

Water Productivity and Food Security: Global Trends and Regional Patterns, Volume Three reviews the need for water productivity improvements in agriculture, addressing three distinct questions pertaining to agricultural water productivity improvement in developing countries, including what are the regions where water is a limiting factor for raising agricultural outputs and water productivity improvements, what are the technological measures in irrigation that can raise agricultural water productivity and result in water saving at various scales, and what opportunities exist in the developing economies of South Asia and Africa for raising water productivity and improving water economy at basin scale. This book provides a framework to characterize river basins based on water availability, water supplies, water uses and water demands to ascertain the need and measures available for improving crop water productivity that would be effective at various scales, i.e., plant-level, plot-level, irrigation system level and basin level. This is an essential reference for anyone interested in water management and agriculture. - Presents clear explanations of the physical and technical measures that can be adopted to improve productivity of water in agricultural production under different basin conditions - Offers physical strategies for improving water productivity in agriculture in different agroecological regions, along with the institutional and policy measures that affect them - Includes methodologies for assessing the food security challenges of individual nations using empirical analysis and global datasets

Dr Dinesh Kumar is the Executive Director of the Institute for Resource Analysis and Policy in Hyderabad, an Indian think-tank on water management founded by him in 2008. He holds a degree in Civil Engineering (focus on water resources management) and a Ph. D in Water Management. He works on water, agriculture, and energy related issues in India and internationally, heading several research and consultancy projects and training assignments of the organization. He is the author of nearly 300 research publications, including nine academic books, nine edited volumes, and several international, peer-reviewed journal articles. He is on the editorial board of four prestigious international journals, Viz., Water Policy, International Journal of Water Resources Development, PLOS Water journal and Frontiers in Water. In a career spanning 30 years, Kumar has visited 21 countries, for conferences and official work.