Ground Water Markets and Small Farmer-Development

Development Tushaar Shah K Vengama Raju Localised, fragmented, village based ground water markets, the off-shoot or wide spread diffusion of modern water extraction technology in India, are far more pervasive and important than most researchers and policy makers imagine. Due to their responsiveness to certain public policy interventions, such water markets have the potential to become powerful instruments for efficient and equitable ground water development This paper presents an argument about how the working of such markets could be influenced and examines empirical evidence in two markedly similar villages selected from the west Godavari district of Andhra Pradesh and the Kheda district of Gujarat. The paper highlights the differential impact of public policies followed by the two states on the terms of business; and the output and livelihood intensities of ground water markets of these two villages.