Water Footprint of India and its Implications for International Trade in Food Products

Abstract

India has been the fifth largest exporter of virtual water in the world. Based on the water footprint of the country, the magnitude of use of inland water resources for the export of crop products from India has been quite significant. The trends in the volume of virtual water being exported to the world through 283 crop products at 6–digits Harmonized System (HS) Codes helped in identifying products that are contributing the maximum to the export of virtual water from India. Although the export of virtual water helps in improving global water use efficiency and in achieving regional and global water security, the extent of over–exploitation of water resources in different regions of India that produce such crops indicate that on a long–term basis, the export of products with a large volume of virtual water should be taken up based on a larger framework encompassing not only the issues related to foreign exchange, food security, food sovereignty and employment, but also the extent of water availability at the regional level.

Keywords

Water Footprint Virtual Water Regional Water Security Agricultural Export.

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