By Veena Vidyadharan
Water-saving technology in rice production would be an effi cient method to keep the South Asian underground water table at a safe level.
Growing population, increasing urbanization and shrinking renewable freshwater resources have become crucial concerns for South Asia in its combat against food insecurity. “More crop per drop” is the new mantra to achieve sustainable food production in the region.
Climate change, characterized mainly by increasing mean temperature and unfavourable weather patterns with recurring spells of droughts and fl oods, has made those concerns even more serious. The primarily agrarian economy of South Asian countries is highly dependent on monsoons, which have become erratic in the last two decades.