‘Alternative cereals can save water’

‘Alternative cereals can save water’

News:

1. According to a recent study, a shift from rice and wheat cultivation to cultivation ‘alternative cereals,’ such as maize, sorghum, and millet, could reduce the demand for irrigation water in India by 33%.

Important Facts:

2. The study was conducted by researchers from US based Earth Institute, Columbia University and Indian School of Business, Hyderabad.
3. For the analysis, water and cereal-production data from 1996-2009 was used
4. As actual water consumption data was unavailable, proxy — Crop Water Requirement (CWR) was used. It is product of water required by crop and harvested area.
5. Major Highlights of the Study:

• The combined production of alternative cereals was larger than that of wheat in the 1960s, but their relative contribution to cereal supply declined steadily during the period
• These alternative cereals also disproportionately account for supply of protein, iron, and zinc among Kharif crops.
• Total CWR demand for Indian cereal production increased from 482 to 632 Km³ during the period
• Rice is the least water-efficient cereal when it came to producing nutrients, and was the main driver in increasing irrigation stresses.
• The report suggests that replacing rice cultivation by maize, finger millet, pearl millet, or sorghum, could save irrigation and improving production of nutrients such as iron by 27% and zinc by 13%