ANNOUNCEMENTS
Agriculture is one of the most significant sources of income for India. With around 70% of the population being dependant on agriculture, it provides livelihood to a large population. Due to rapid urbanization, a lot of the agricultural regions which were outside the vicinities of cities have started to become parts of the cities as these cities grow and expand their borders. These peri-urban agricultural zones have started feeling the brunt of rapid urbanization and industrialization and all the harms that come with it.
Najafgarh is one of the densest agricultural regions in the border zones of New Delhi. With the location of the Najafgarh Jheel Bird Sanctuary in the region, it becomes an even more critical area. Many villages and farmers in the south-west of the city are entirely dependent on farming. With the changing state of the natural resources around the region, there has been a stress on the farmers for obtaining water to irrigate their crops. A conceptual study of the factors that increase the famers’ vulnerability to irrigation water scarcity was carried out to understand how they are affected by it.
The available data for factors such as rainfall and groundwater levels indicated that there is a growing stress on the farmers for obtaining water. This is because of issues with quantity of water, health and quality of water and also the farmers’ ability to access the water that is available. CROPWAT modelling also showed that the crops that are grown in the region have irrigation requirements and the farmers would experience major yield losses if the crops are only irrigated by the rain of the region. Irrigation schedules were also modified to find different ways to irrigate in order to assist the farmers.
