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Groundwater electricity pumps water-intensive crops agriculture economic growth
01 June 21
South Asia
Researchers from the International Water Management Institute (IWMI) expected to find that with greater electrification of wells and tubewells, more farmers would purchase electric pumps and operate their pumps for longer hours to grow more water-intensive crops; and that this might cause a decline in groundwater levels. Surprisingly, the results show that the effect on agricultural outcomes such as cropping pattern, cropping intensity, cropped area, production and yield was minimal.
ACIAR SDIP