Suman, Mayank

2024, Suman, Mayank, Rajib Maity

Agricultural water resources are vital for ensuring food safety and security in the future, given the challenges of a changing climate. Geospatial technology has been utilized for mapping and managing agricultural water resources in the past with success. In this chapter, a review of such use cases is provided. Geospatial technology can also be used for the assessment of agricultural droughts across vast regions. Additionally, the effect of climate change on changes in agricultural drought can be studied. To highlight such use cases, a case study to assess the status of agricultural drought in 226 subbasins across the Indian mainland for the future period is also presented in this chapter. This case study is taken from Suman and Maity, 2021. The study first highlighted geographically contrasting changes in the trend of agricultural drought across India. For instance, subbasins in the north, central, and northeast parts of India are more vulnerable to drought and are expected to spend more time under extreme drought conditions when compared to subbasins in the southern part of the country. The study also reveals that by the end of this century, about 20% and 50% of the Indian mainland will be under extreme and moderate drought conditions, respectively.