Bihar will go to elections later in the year, and for the first time in decades this year agriculture is high on the agenda for the current ruling party. This could appeal to the largely rural population, who are heavily dependent on farming and its allied sectors for their livelihoods. With the sudden return of hundreds of thousands of migrant workers due to COVID-19, options for their engagement in the short and longer term are also needed.
In a piece in the Telegraph on Water as political capital in Bihar, ACIAR SDIP partner Associate Professor Somnath Bandyopadhyay from Nalanda University sets the scene for the multiple challenges facing Bihar at this time; the impacts of reverse migration, a large rural population, uncompetitive agricultural markets, low farm productivity and fragmented landholdings all need to be addressed. A/Prof Bandyophadyay discusses improved farm productivity and value addition through agro-based industries as a solution in the immediate term, which then needs a sustainable groundwater base to be implemented. Creating underground water banks can help secure irrigation and raise farm incomes, while also restoring ecosystems; but can it determine the next government in Bihar?
For more information, please contact Associate Professor Somnath Bandyopadhyay ([email protected]).