Relationship between Cotton Production and Virtual Water in India

Abstract

Water is an essential natural resource to live on the earth. We have about 2/3rd of the water on the planet. Still, there is a scarcity of water. It is due to the uneven distribution of water on the earth in many places because of the over-exploitation and the withdrawal of water for personal and agricultural use. This study is conducted to know the impact of the yield on virtual water use in cotton production. The secondary cotton production data was collected from the INDIASTAT. The water requirement for the cotton is calculated by the CROPWAT 8.0 model (software of the FAO). The regression analysis is done to calculate the result. The result is calculated by a statistical package in the social sciences. The result of the study shows that if the farm’s yield increases, the virtual water per unit will decrease. The implications of this paper are that to reduce the water requirement for cotton production, India needs to increase the production capacity of cotton, resulting in a decrease in the water requirement. The result of this study can be implied anywhere to get a reduction in the virtual water use in any type of farm product.