Title: Impacts of different water tariff reforms on rural livelihood and water and public resource in India: the case of Haryana producers

Authors: Veronique Alary, Daniel Deybe

Addresses: CIRAD-Emvt, ICARDA Tunis, 6 rue Ibn Rachik, 2080 Nouvelle Ariana, Tunisia. ' CIRAD-Amis, 45 bis Av. De la belle Gabrielle, 94 736 Nogent sur Marne Cedex, France

Abstract: Since 1991, India has been undertaking a process of liberalisation of the agricultural sector. This process threatens to affect the irrigation patterns by introducing a system of payment for the electricity used for pumping, but it may prevent the wastage of the water resource. In this paper, a mathematical model is used to simulate farmers| reactions to different water policy scenarios in Haryana and analyse their impact on the agricultural production, the rural livelihood and the water resource. This policy could have a low impact on the public expenditure, but it will hinder farmers| income, increase the agricultural risk, and affect rural consumption, without improving the conservation of the water resource. To prevent unfair impacts on the farmers| pockets, a policy of pricing water would require rates to be ||adjusted|| according to the categories of the farmers.

Keywords: agricultural policies; farming system approach; decision making; food security; mathematical modelling; water tariff reforms; rural areas; India; liberalisation; water resources; water policy; rural livelihood; agricultural risk; rural consumption; conservation; farming income; water pricing.

DOI: 10.1504/IJW.2005.007160

International Journal of Water, 2005 Vol.3 No.1, pp.84 - 99

Published online: 31 May 2005 *

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