~ 174 ~ The Pharma Innovation Journal 2020; 9(1): 174-175 ISSN (E): 2277- 7695 ISSN (P): 2349-8242 NAAS Rating: 5.03 TPI 2020; 9(1): 174-175 © 2020 TPI www.thepharmajournal.com Received: 01-11-2019 Accepted: 03-12-2019 Abinaya M School of Agriculture and Animal Sciences, Gandhigram Rural Institute - Deemed to be University, Gandhigram, Dindigul, Tamil Nadu, India Durgadevi N School of Agriculture and Animal Sciences, Gandhigram Rural Institute - Deemed to be University, Gandhigram, Dindigul, Tamil Nadu, India Ramya K School of Agriculture and Animal Sciences, Gandhigram Rural Institute - Deemed to be University, Gandhigram, Dindigul, Tamil Nadu, India Pradeepa I School of Agriculture and Animal Sciences, Gandhigram Rural Institute - Deemed to be University, Gandhigram, Dindigul, Tamil Nadu, India Balamurugan R School of Agriculture and Animal Sciences, Gandhigram Rural Institute - Deemed to be University, Gandhigram, Dindigul, Tamil Nadu, India Nirmal Raj R School of Agriculture and Animal Sciences, Gandhigram Rural Institute - Deemed to be University, Gandhigram, Dindigul, Tamil Nadu, India Corresponding Author: Nirmal Raj R School of Agriculture and Animal Sciences, Gandhigram Rural Institute - Deemed to be University, Gandhigram, Dindigul, Tamil Nadu, India Significance of water management and conservation in agriculture Abinaya M, Durgadevi N, Ramya K, Pradeepa I, Balamurugan R and Nirmal Raj R Abstract Water is the utmost necessity for agriculture in the modern world. Water determines the efficient growth and development of the crops. The availability of water decides the type of vegetation that would prevail in a locality. Our globe is covered by 71% of water, but the fresh water availability is only less than one percent. The amount of fresh water in the world is enough to meet the requirement of the world, but fresh water is unevenly distributed making certain areas as water efficient and certain areas as water deficit. Thus about 80 countries in the world are water deficient affecting nearly 40% of the world population. So it is mandatory to use the water efficiently and manage the available water in a sustainable manner. It can be achieved by adapting many conservation techniques such as dams and rain water harvesting. Unprecedented climate change and the resultant global warming had a very diminishing effect on the available water and afforestation is one vital measure which could improve the deteriorating condition. Reuse of saline water, sequential strategies for crop production system and new techniques of irrigation are the need of hour. The present-day concept of efficient use of virtual water improves conservation of water in agriculture. There will be a competition for water for municipal requirement, industries and agriculture. Agriculture must be the focal area where conservation strategies should be applied effectively. Thus efficient use, management and conservation of the available fresh water resources can result in the sustainable development of our country. Keywords: Virtual water, fresh water, conservation, sustainable, climate change Introduction Agriculture is that which feeds the world population and employs about two third of the population in India. In Tamil literature Thirukural, Thiruvalluvar remarked that “World spins around many industries but all industries spins around agriculture” which shows the importance of agriculture in our life. The driving force involved in crop production is obviously irrigation water which is essential in the overall development of any crop. “Irrigation is everything in India, water is even more valuable than land” remarked Sir Charles Trevelyan decades ago. It is very essential to manage water utility in a country like India. The problem in India is not the availability or storage of water but it is the poor management and over exploitation that have made water a scarce commodity (Chakkaravarthy and Balakrishnan, 2019) [2] . Poor management accounts negatively towards the factors such as, utilization, augmentation and conservation. Water conservation Water conservation may be defined as the reduction in the loss of water and make it available for future generations. It is important to conserve water to reduce the loss of water, waste or use. The main objectives of conservation are to reduce the surface run off, to increase groundwater storage, to bring awareness among the people about the water conservation and management methods and to improve the water management practices. National water management policies should take account of the impact of trade in water intensive goods on water availability and ecosystem integrity for a better understanding of the economy underlying. For example, in water scarce regions people should grow crops with low water requirements or of high value compared to the water used. Options for improving the water balance by importing water intensive goods from water rich regions should be explored, which would be appropriate and cost effective. (Kumari and Singh, 2016) [4] .