As Columbia continues to expand its position as a global university, it has a new project on tap—developing fresh water resources with India’s Punjab Agricultural University.
On Oct. 27, University trustees entered into a memorandum of understanding with PAU and the Center for International Projects Trust, a non-profit trust based in India, to help tackle the problem of water depletion in the arid Punjab region of northwestern India.
The memorandum, signed by PAU Vice Chancellor Manjit Singh Kang and Columbia’s Alan and Carol Silberstein Professor of Earth and Environmental Engineering and of Civil Engineering and Engineering Mechanics Upmanu Lall, presses for increased research on “innovations for reversing groundwater depletion and promoting secure agricultural income in Punjab and other parts of India.”
According to the document, the project seeks to “develop a model for public and corporate strategies working with agricultural extension and university research systems that can show progress towards regional water and agricultural sustainability.” The memorandum engages the two universities in a three-year partnership.
Columbia has agreed to provide funds totaling 2,275,000 Indian rupees—which equals approximately $48,353. Lall was also given a $6-million grant by the PepsiCo Foundation “to address this and related issues in India, China, Mali and Brazil.”
The situation in Punjab is particularly dire. As the water table—water level in the soil—continues to drop, people living in the area are faced with challenges in supporting the local agriculture and economy. There is a lack of consistent clean water, and inhabitants are left battling resulting health problems.
India supports 16 percent of the world’s population with 4 percent of the world’s fresh water resources, according to the Environment Information System Centre in Punjab.
Lall, who serves as the director of the Columbia Water Center, says that he will work most closely with professors R. S. Sidhu and Kamal Vatta, both members of PAU’s Department of Economics and Sociology, and Dr. Kapil Narula, director of the India Water initiative at CIP Trust.
Lall said he and his colleagues had been interested in developing a program in the region, which came together after he sought out Sidhu during a visit to India.
The project will look specifically at three main topics as it works to advance the area: contract farming, policy analysis, and self-help groups. Through these efforts, Lall hopes the project will introduce technology, crop diversification, and market access to the area, and in addition assist the state and national governments as they look to subsidize production of certain crops.
Lall explained that the group would look at introducing strategies to maximize food yield in Punjab. These strategies, he said, would primarily include “crop diversification and movement towards a mix of high cash value, low water using crops, and regulation of groundwater use.”
Researchers are trying to develop a program that can continue after the three-year project comes to an end. Lall stressed the need to develop “self-help groups or cooperatives that work with PAU and other agents” to take advantage of new technologies and policies that may be introduced in the future.
In addition to its commitment toward solving world water issues, the agreement between the two universities hopes to foster cultural exchange. At the signing ceremony, held at PAU, Kang indicated that he hoped to send PAU scientists to Columbia for additional training in the area of water management.
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