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Benefits of irrigation against heat stress in agriculture: Evidence from wheat crop in India

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  • Birthal, Pratap S.
  • Hazrana, Jaweriah
  • Negi, Digvijay S.
  • Pandey, Ghanshyam

Abstract

Applying the fixed effects regression technique to the highly spatially disaggregated district-level data from 1966–67 to 2011–12 this paper has assessed the impact of heat stress on wheat production in India and concurrently evaluated the role of irrigation towards offsetting its harmful impact. It has brought out three key highlights. One, heat stress negatively impacts crop yield, and the impact has increased over time. Two, irrigation, besides its contribution towards improving crop yield, also moderates the harmful impact of heat stress, but over time its effectiveness has declined. Three, the measure of heat stress built on multiple aspects of excess temperature (i.e., intensity, persistence, and frequency) explains variation in crop yield better than does a single aspect of it. Given the increasing scarcity of irrigation water and rising temperature, these findings suggest the need for exploring technological and policy options for improving irrigation water-use efficiency and breeding of crops for heat tolerance and low water footprints.

Suggested Citation

  • Birthal, Pratap S. & Hazrana, Jaweriah & Negi, Digvijay S. & Pandey, Ghanshyam, 2021. "Benefits of irrigation against heat stress in agriculture: Evidence from wheat crop in India," Agricultural Water Management, Elsevier, vol. 255(C).
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:agiwat:v:255:y:2021:i:c:s0378377421002158
    DOI: 10.1016/j.agwat.2021.106950
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    4. Kishore, Prabhat & Roy, Devesh & Birthal, Pratap S. & Srivastava, Shivendra Kumar, 2024. "Regulation and Policy Response to Groundwater Preservation in India," Policy Papers 345044, ICAR National Institute of Agricultural Economics and Policy Research (NIAP).
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    6. Kang, Jian & Ding, Risheng & Chen, Jinliang & Wu, Siyu & Gao, Weichen & Wen, Zilu & Tong, Ling & Du, Taisheng, 2025. "Crop root system phenotyping with high water-use efficiency and its targeted precision regulation: Present and prospect," Agricultural Water Management, Elsevier, vol. 309(C).
    7. Birthal, Pratap S. & Hazrana, Jaweriah & Negi, Digvijay S. & Mishra, Ashok K., 2022. "Assessing benefits of crop insurance vis-a-vis irrigation in Indian agriculture," Food Policy, Elsevier, vol. 112(C).
    8. repec:ags:icar24:345044 is not listed on IDEAS
    9. Adeyeri, Oluwafemi E. & Zhou, Wen & Laux, Patrick & Wang, Xuan & Dieng, Diarra & Widana, Lakshani A.E. & Usman, Muhammad, 2023. "Land use and land cover dynamics: Implications for thermal stress and energy demands," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 179(C).
    10. Kalli, Rajesh & Jena, Pradyot Ranjan & Timilsina, Raja Rajendra & Rahut, Dil Bahadur & Sonobe, Tetsushi, 2024. "Effect of irrigation on farm efficiency in tribal villages of Eastern India," Agricultural Water Management, Elsevier, vol. 291(C).
    11. Birthal, Pratap S. & Hazrana, Jaweriah & Roy, Devesh & Satyasai, K. J. S, 2024. "Can Finance Mitigate Climate Risks in Agriculture? Farm-level Evidence from India," Policy Papers 344992, ICAR National Institute of Agricultural Economics and Policy Research (NIAP).
    12. Li, Mo & Chen, Yingshan & Liu, Dong & Xue, Min & Wang, Yijia & Fu, Qiang, 2024. "Synergetic management of the water-energy-food nexus for cropland ecosystems under climate change: Toward a multistakeholder-based systematic optimization approach," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 220(C).
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