Agricultural Water Management Scenarios in the Jaldhaka Watershed, West Bengal, India

This 2012 report by the Stockholm Environment Institute analyzes two agricultural water management (AWM) scenarios in the Jaldhaka watershed of West Bengal, India: widespread rural electrification and the expansion of independent tea growing. Using community fieldwork and expert meetings, the report evaluates the potential impacts of these changes on various stakeholder groups, livelihoods, and the environment over a ten-year horizon.

• Rural electrification is expected to significantly increase agricultural productivity by allowing farmers to switch from expensive diesel pumps to cheaper electric pumps, enabling more harvests per year (increasing from one or two to two or three) and the cultivation of 'boro' rice outside the rainy season.
• While electrification offers broad benefits, it creates risks of social exclusion for those unable to afford installation costs, particularly squatters on riverbeds who lack the identification papers or fixed addresses required for government loans and schemes.
• Widespread electrification may lead to negative environmental and systemic outcomes, including the depletion of groundwater and rivers due to increased pumping, higher carbon emissions, and increased pollution from the intensified use of fertilizers and pesticides.
• The expansion of independent tea growing in the upstream area of the watershed would increase income for land-owning farmers and create jobs for labourers, but it threatens regional food security by reducing the land available for staple crops like paddy, jute, and pulses.
• Increased tea production is linked to severe health hazards for pluckers and labourers due to the use of pesticides, herbicides, and the leaching of alkaloids from tea leaves; specifically, the report notes a relationship between increased pesticide use and a higher incidence of leprosy.
• The expansion of tea growing upstream would likely deplete deep aquifers (at 200 feet), negatively impacting downstream farmers who rely on diesel or electric pumps, whereas treadle pump users would be less affected as they use shallower, rain-replenished aquifers.

APA

de Bruin, A., Mikhail, M., Brahmachari, A., & Barron, J. (2012). Agricultural Water Management Scenarios in the Jaldhaka Watershed, West Bengal, India. Stockholm Environment Institute. https://www.sei.org/mediamanager/documents/Publications/Air-land-water-resources/agwater/jaldhaka-scenarios_120717.pdf

Chicago

de Bruin, Annemarieke, Monique Mikhail, Aniruddha Brahmachari, and Jennie Barron. Agricultural Water Management Scenarios in the Jaldhaka Watershed, West Bengal, India. Stockholm Environment Institute, 2012. https://www.sei.org/mediamanager/documents/Publications/Air-land-water-resources/agwater/jaldhaka-scenarios_120717.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |last1=de Bruin |first1=Annemarieke |last2=Mikhail |first2=Monique |last3=Brahmachari |first3=Aniruddha |last4=Barron |first4=Jennie |title=Agricultural Water Management Scenarios in the Jaldhaka Watershed, West Bengal, India |publisher=Stockholm Environment Institute |date=2012 |url=https://www.sei.org/mediamanager/documents/Publications/Air-land-water-resources/agwater/jaldhaka-scenarios_120717.pdf |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{debruin2012agricultural, author = {de Bruin, Annemarieke and Mikhail, Monique and Brahmachari, Aniruddha and Barron, Jennie}, title = {{Agricultural Water Management Scenarios in the Jaldhaka Watershed, West Bengal, India}}, institution = {Stockholm Environment Institute}, year = {2012}, url = {https://www.sei.org/mediamanager/documents/Publications/Air-land-water-resources/agwater/jaldhaka-scenarios_120717.pdf}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }