A brainstorming workshop on “Enhancing Agricultural Water Productivity in Canal Commands: A Dialogue†was organized on 13.02.2024 at ICAR-IIWM, Bhubaneshwar in hybrid mode. The workshop was inaugurated with the welcome address by Dr. A. Sarangi, Director ICAR-IIWM followed by a presentation for setting the stage and context for the brainstorming under four different sessions. Total four sessions were conducted in the workshop viz. Session-1: Status and scope for enhancing agricultural water productivity in canal command of the Country; Session-II: Geo-spatial Tools, Models, Sensors and ICT in Enhancing Agricultural Water Productivity from Canal Commands: Present Status and Future Scope; Session-III: Climate smart agricultural water management technologies in canal commands; and Session-IV: Policy and Institutional Governance Framework for Enhancing Agricultural Water Productivity in Canal Commands. During the workshop, eminent hydrologists like Drs. A.K. Sikka, Country Representative India at IWMI, New Delhi, India;T.B.S. Rajput, Former Project Director, WTC, ICAR-IARI, New Delhi; Nayan Sharma, former Professor, IIT Roorkee; Lingaraj Gouda, Engineer-in-Chief (EIC) (Design & Planning), Department of Water Resources, Govt. of Odisha; U. Amarasinghe, Senior Researcher, IWMI, Colombo, Sri Lanka; S. Kulkarni, Former Secretary, MWRRA, Maharashtra and Executive Secretary, ICID; S.D. Gorantiwar, Director of Research, MPKV, Maharashtra; V.M. Chowdary, Group Director (Agri Sci. Appl Group), NRSC, Hyderabad; S. Pazhanivelan, Director, CWGS, Tamil Nadu Agricultural University, Coimbatore; R.R. Nayak, Director, OIIPCRA, Govt. of Odisha; R.K. Panda, Director, Centre for Climate Smart Agriculture, Siksha O Anusandhan University, Bhubaneswar; K. Yella Reddy, Officer on Special Duty, Water Resource Department, Govt. of Andhra Pradesh; Harish Verma, Executive Director, ICID, New Delhi and Prabhat Kishore, Scientist, ICAR-NIAP, New Delhi deliberated on the issue either in physical or virtual mode. A total of 38 including 10 virtual participants joined in the workshop and shared their view points. In order to enhance Agricultural water productivity in canal command area, the emerging points like proper measurement and monitoring of water at crop field level; water budgeting; feasibility of introduction of tools/models/technologies to solve the problems of water scarcity; water saving techniques like partial root zone drying (PRD), regulated deficit irrigation (RDI),no-till farming; underground pipe line (UGPL) system; fully automated system; benchmarking of irrigation system; use of pressurized irrigation system, strengthening of the outlet management committee and supply and demand side management for achieving higher water productivity; use of geospatial techniques; IoT enabled location specific real time irrigation scheduling system; climate smart water management with incentivizing adoption of good water management practices; reclamation of command area; regulation of water prices; on-farm application efficiency through micro irrigation and bridging gap between IPC and IPU; and robust capacity building and institutional framework pertaining to all aspects of canal water management was deliberated in detail through case studies and field experiences. Dr. R.K. Panda, Principal Scientist & Programme Leader of Canal Water Management Programme proposed a vote of thanks.
