Paper short abstract:

This study aims to examine the exploitation of resources and farmer's conditions in the western Uttar Pradesh region of India from a historical standpoint and proposes a shift towards sustainable agriculture to safeguard resources considering the water-energy-food nexus and uplift the farmers.

Paper long abstract:

It is a challenge for the global community to handle resource insecurity with social inequality. This is observed in the Indian agriculture sector, where it is trapped in a great paradox of depletion of resources and the poor state of farmers. India is the greatest consumer of groundwater and irrigation for agriculture is the major reason for groundwater withdrawals. Uttar Pradesh in India has the largest groundwater reservoir beneath the Gangetic Alluvial Plain but it is still impacted by the unregulated and unsustainable extraction. The key reasons for this are high production of water-intensive crops such as sugarcane and rice, shift to private tube well pumping devices due to inefficient supply from the government canals and tube wells, and prevalence of energy subsidies for political vote banks which reinforces pumping of groundwater. Moreover, the farmers are vulnerable and in debt. Hence, the study converges sustainable agriculture and social justice from a water-energy-food nexus perspective to resolve these issues holistically. The objective of the study is to examine the connection between groundwater depletion, food security, and power subsidies in agriculture sector from a historical standpoint since the green revolution keeping in view the socio-economic and political dimensions. It also suggests possible sustainable agricultural solutions carried out by the government and the individual farmers which can reshape the historical injustices. A mix of quantitative and qualitative methods was used to conduct the study. Interviews of farmers and stakeholders were conducted along with Case Studies, Cases, Focused Group Discussions, and Participatory Rural Appraisal.