Review Power Pricing Policy for Agriculture, advocates SANDEE researcher R. Balasubramanian

12 Jul 2013 - 12 Jul 2013 Tamil Nadu Agricultural University, Coimbatore, India

R. Balasubramanian's dissemination seminar (based on his SANDEE research) at Tamil Nadu Agricultural University, Coimbatore, India in July 2013 received widespread press coverage and discussion. This is because the study signals for a need to review electricity pricing policy for agriculture. Findings from this study on climate change and its impact on groundwater irrigation show that for every one degree Celsius increase in temperature, the groundwater table is likely to fall by 0.30-0.55 meters. Similarly, poor rainfall, increase in the number of wells and increase in area under water-intensive crops such as sugarcane and coconut could cause a significant fall in the water table level in Tamil Nadu. The findings show that there has been a steady fall in water table level after the introduction of a full subsidy for electricity used in groundwater pumping for agriculture. Small and marginal farmers are the worst affected due to increasing scarcity of groundwater.