Virtual water is defined as the water required for the production of goods. Virtual water trade refers to the import and export of hidden water in the form of products such as crop products, textiles, machinery and livestock — all of which require water for their production.

Historically, China has been a net importer of virtual water. India, on the other hand, owing to its excessive agricultural exports, losses water and puts water sustainability in the long run at risk. India is poised to lose its entire available water supply within 500 years if its current food export policy continues, a new method of calculating “virtual water” flow through trade has shown.

India is a water-stressed country, where major river basins like the Narmada, Indus and Ganga face scarcity of water for most of the year. In India, farmers rely heavily on groundwater for rice cultivation, and a kilogram of paddy requires about 15,000 litres of water to grow. India’s main exports are cereals, tea, coffee, cashew nuts and sugar, which all require vast amounts of water. Groundwater depletion, erratic rainfall, natural calamities, drought and floods are resulting in constrained economic ties among nations.

Judicious mixing and growing of different crops with lower water demand at the national level need to be taken up. Precision technology to be adopted to trail water use by export farms and industries.

Importing water-intensive crops and products enables countries to balance their increasing water demand while exporting less water-intensive commodities. For instance, Mexico imports maize and in doing so, it saves 12 billion cubic metres per year of its national water resources.

Virtual water export is likely only to grow further in the future. Its impact on coming generations would be more catastrophic if corrective actions are not taken at the earliest. While it will be impractical and idealistic to completely cut off the virtual water export of agri-crops or industrial products, it is essential to define the limits.

Aishwarya Says:

I have always been against Glorifying Over Work and therefore, in the year 2021, I have decided to launch this campaign “Balancing Life”and talk about this wrong practice, that we have been following since last few years. I will be talking to and interviewing around 1 lakh people in the coming 2021 and publish their interview regarding their opinion on glamourising Over Work.

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