Economic Valuation, Water–Energy–Food Nexus Interactions, and the Feasibility of Volumetric Irrigation Pricing: Production Function Approaches in the Pennaiyar River Basin, India

Abstract

Water, energy, and food security are among the most pressing challenges facing developing economies. In India, agriculture accounts for a large share of freshwater withdrawals, and irrigation increasingly depends on groundwater extracted using subsidised and often unmetered electricity. Decisions regarding irrigation water use and irrigation energy use are therefore closely linked, and the economic value of irrigation water has implications for agricultural productivity, water sustainability, and energy use.