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The world is suffering water crisis and a lot has to be still done to mitigate it or reduce it. The fresh surface water is becoming contaminated and groundwater is over exploited for irrigation activities. The water scarcity is looming and is bound to grow in coming decades. The largest consumer of water is the agricultural sector. Much water cannot be taken away from the agriculture as it is crucial to maintain the food security and to cater to the demands of everincreasing population as well as urbanization. Coming to agriculture there are only a limited amount of practices which can be done in agriculture to reduce the water intake. These limited practices have to be guided and monitored to reach the smallest land holder farmers. Agricultural extension services lack sufficiently in India and how it can be done at a larger level. The most water intensive crops such as sugarcane and paddy affects the water input. India is the second largest producer of paddy so it has to increase its productivity which is low as compared to the other countries. The objective of this study is to build the gap between water productivity and water efficiency. It has been acknowledged a lot about what practices could be adopted. But thinking for a farmer’s perspective, he/she wants to have maximum yield thereby enhancing their economic status. If water is available in required quantity to them, they probably will not give a thought to include water efficiency. It does not mean that they are not aware about it, it just concludes that it is not their priority. Water efficiency is important for the people involved in water sector like government, professionals, agencies and non-governmental organizations. In this study, the model for optimization of water resources is paddy is done for a location in Punjab, where the productivity is maximum and efficiency is minimum. If we can bridge this gap between productivity and efficiency with the help of sustainable practices then there is a chance of restoring our water resources.
Keywords: Paddy, Productivity, Efficiency, Optimization, Sustainable.
