*Corresponding author: Rajeev Kumar Kannaujiya Department of Economics, Faculty of Social Sciences, Banaras Hindu University. Varanasi. 221005 ISSN: 0976-3031 Research Article OPPORTUNITIES AND CHALLENGES OF WASTEWATER IRRIGATION: A STUDY OF PERI- URBAN AGRICULTURE OF VARANASI DISTRICT, UTTAR PRADESH, INDIA Rajeev Kumar Kannaujiya* and Mishra M Department of Economics, Faculty of Social Sciences, Banaras Hindu University, Varanasi. 221005 DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.24327/ijrsr.2018.0903.1875 ARTICLE INFO ABSTRACT The easy availability during whole year and nutrient content of wastewater sludge plays a strong supportive role for increasing use of wastewater in agriculture. Increasing population and urbanization pressurizes food demands, socio-economic and environmental stresses. Urban or Peri- urban Agriculture (UPA) provides a complementary strategy to reduce food insecurity and enhance urban environmental management in the context of rural-urban linkage. It is observed that nutrients contain in wastewater results in higher crop yields and thereby considerably reduces use of artificial fertilizers as well as fertilizers cost. But on the other hand it has an adverse effect that poses health risks directly to farmers and farm - workers. The aim of present study is to examine the opportunities and challenges of wastewater irrigation in UPA. This study tried to estimate the benefits and cost of production as well as health cost due to wastewater through a primary survey among the 382 households in the vicinity of UPA area of Varanasi district. Primary data were collected from 6 wastewater irrigated (WWI) and 6 freshwater irrigated (FWI) villages for the cross- section analysis. Through a case study of the UPA areas tried to establish a relationship between two deferent irrigation water users. The results of the study reveal that wastewater for irrigation has higher benefit-costs ratio compare than freshwater areas. But at the same time higher morbidity rate as well as cost of illness has been found in the WWI areas than compared to FWI areas. Study concludes that there are evidences that wastewater has a potential to reduce the production cost and return approximately 68.03 percent higher than FWI area. INTRODUCTION Irrigation with wastewater has become an integral part of urban and peri-urban agriculture in and around world. Basically due to scarcity of freshwater resources many low income countries use wastewater irrigation practise. An estimated twenty million hectares worldwide are being irrigated with wastewater because of high water demand for agriculture and easy acceptance by farmers in comparison to other uses (Jimenez and Asano 2008). Furthermore, wastewater adds nutrients and sludge containing nutrients and promotes productivity. The easy availability and continuous supply throughout the year plays a strong supportive role for farmers’ use of wastewater in agriculture. The rapid industrialization and urbanization in developing countries contributed to increase water pollution as well as to human health and environmental degradation. Basically water pollution poses a serious challenge due to its impact on a large number of economic activities (Reddy et al., 2009). It is observed that nutrients contain in wastewater result in higher crop yields and thereby considerably reduces use of chemical fertilizers as well as the cost of production. But however this is not a costless benefit, many health and environmental problems associated with wastewater components like pathogens, organic compounds and heavy metals presents, which cause serious health hazards from mild skin itching to cholera. The use of wastewater for irrigation is associated with adverse effects on farmers’ health, whose direct contact with contaminated water and its causes produce health cost. The paper considers the effects of such a perennial water resource in peri-urban areas and its effects upon health and livelihood practices of farmers and farm workers. The comparative analysis has been done between Wastewater irrigated areas (WWI) and Freshwater irrigated areas (FWI) at every aspects. This study examines the perception of farmers on the costs, the benefits and the risks of using wastewater in the cultivation. Available Online at http://www.recentscientific.com International Journal of Recent Scientific Research International Journal of Recent Scientific Research Vol. 9, Issue, 3(L), pp. 25523-25528, March, 2018 Copyright © Rajeev Kumar Kannaujiya and Mishra M, 2018, this is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. DOI: 10.24327/IJRSR CODEN: IJRSFP (USA) Article History: Received 24 th December, 2017 Received in revised form 13 th January, 2018 Accepted 8 th February, 2018 Published online 28 th March, 2018 Key Words: UPA, wastewater irrigation, health risks, cost-benefits, opportunities, challenges.