Will Kudimaramathu make communities think tanks again?: a study of tanks in transit, coping mechanism of communities and...
Drought-proofing through groundwater recharge: lessons from Chief Ministers’ initiatives in four Indian states
Indian agricultural communities are facing a crisis driven by, among other things, skewed terms of trade and farmers’ inability to deal with increasingly adverse climatic conditions. Because agriculture continues to be the primary source of livelihood for most of India’s population, governments at all levels are under pressure to find ways to help ...
Sustaining tank irrigation in South India through time-tested measures
The century old irrigation tanks mostly found in south India account for about 1/3 of rice irrigated areas and largely benefit the small and marginal farmers. The current performance of these tanks is below the 50 percent level. Major factors contributing to their declining performance are: erratic rainfall pattern and reduced inflows (hydrology si...
Revival of Traditional Cascade Tanks for Achieving Climate Resilience in Drylands of South India
Published in Frontiers in Water
Traditional tanks in arid regions of India have been working to address water demands of the public for more than 2000 years. However, recent decade is witnessing growing domestic and agricultural water demand coupled with rising encroachment and ignorance toward tanks; consequently, intensifying water shortage issues. While climate change is impac...
Adaptation to climate variability in Sri Lanka: a case study of the Huruluwewa Irrigation System in the Dry Zone
This paper assesses how the Huruluwewa tank (HWT) irrigation system in the North Central Province of Sri Lanka adapts to climate variability. The lessons learned in the HWT will be helpful for many water-scarce irrigation systems in the country, which bear high climate risks. Recurrent droughts are the bane of agriculture in the Dry Zone, comprisin...
