Current Questions
At the India Research Corps, we constantly source questions from government agencies and civil society organisations across the country. Below is a list of questions that research scholars can take up.
Open Questions
| Research Client | Question | Application |
|---|---|---|
| Gram Vikas | What are the effects of pumping out water from an aquifer on other aquifers in the region? This information will feed into Water Passbook, a tool they are developing. | It will help educate farmers and inform them about how much water they should be pumping out to avoid the depletion of aquifers. |
| Advanced Centre for Integrated Water Resources Management (ACIWRM) | How can data from the Bele Survey app be triangulated with the information from the Irrigation Department to develop real-time water budgets? | The study will enable accurate, real-time water budgeting. |
| Water For People | What will be the impact of universal drinking water access on groundwater availability in the next 25 years in Nalanda district and the state of Bihar? What is the impact on total water abstraction? Where is source sustainability a concern in Nalanda district? | The inputs from this study will inform the water policy for the state of Bihar. |
| Prarambha | How did a ragi eating landscape switch to paddy growing and consuming paddy? | This study will help them understand the forces at play that enabled the systems change and how to engineer the way back. |
| Water For People | In Bihar, in places where there are drinking water tariff structures and collection mechanisms, is there better community engagement and ownership in the form of good operational and financial sustainability of drinking water supply? | Program design can be undertaken based on the inputs from this research study. |
| PRADAN | To what degree has the Agriculture Production Cluster (APC) approach effectively increased the income of participating farmers and contributed to uplifting subsistence farmers into higher proficiency levels? | This study will help in program design to increase farmer income. |
| ACIWRM | Using the Bele survey data on crop yield and crop choice, what is the crop water requirement for crops being grown in Raichur? | Govt departments can use this information to make decisions on when to release canal water to the command areas (time of release, quantum etc). |
| MSSRF | What are the primary drivers and barriers influencing the larger change (and acceptance) in agricultural practices and decision making of farmers to adopt AWD in the context of 5 villages supported by MSSRF in Canal command area of Periyakulam? How do factors such as socio demographic networks, economic incentives, access to information and net benefits (money and yield) shape these decisions? | This study will help the client select more effective demand side interventions in a traditionally paddy-cultivating landscape that is now undergoing changes in climate and rainfall patterns. |
| MSSRF | Based on the observed agronomic and economic outcomes, how do farmers and key stakeholders perceive the long-term sustainability and practical feasibility of adopting AWD in the Periyakulam landscape, and what are the critical enabling or constraining factors influencing its continued use? | This study will help the client select more effective demand side interventions in a traditionally paddy-cultivating landscape that is now undergoing changes in climate and rainfall patterns. |
| ACIWRM | What is the quantum of conjunctive use of water in the Narayanpur Right Bank Canal command area in Raichur district? To what extent do wells compensate for the lack of water from canals? How do people who use wells fare economically compared to head-end paddy farmers who are fully dependent on canal water? | It is assumed that all farmers in the canal command area use canal water. This study will help determine actual use patterns and shape water-management policies. |
| Kerala Development & Innovation Strategic Council (K-DISC) | In water stressed areas of Kerala such as Attapadi and Wayanad, springs are drying up. How do springs in these regions fare on quantitative and qualitative parameters?How can they be restored effectively for use by communities using supply side interventions? How can we ensure broader source sustainability of these springs? | Local self-government institutions (LSGs) invest money in water resource management interventions; springs are an important source of drinking and domestic water in water stressed areas of Kerala. K-DISC will provide this information to the LSGs for them to use this to design the springshed management intervention. |
| K-DISC | Low-lying areas in Kerala such as Chellanam, areas bordering north western parts of the Vembanad like Thycuttasseri and parts of Kuttanad are frequently flooded during high tides, a phenomenon which was earlier limited only to spring tides. This is causing significant challenges to habitats in these regions. What kinds of sanitation systems do these communities have, and how are these affected by the flooding? How do other challenges, such as contamination of groundwater due to this flooding, impact effective sewage management in these areas? What is the effect of this contamination on the drinking & domestic water that communities use? | LSGs will use this information to improve sewage management systems and address sanitation challenges faced by residents of these areas. |
| Axis Bank Foundation (ABF) | Over the last 10-15 years, what are the trends in the rise of the share of non-farm income for workers who call themselves farmers in specific geographies of Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, and Odisha? Based on the findings, should programmatic focus shift to agri-allied/non-agri interventions in the coming years? | This evidence will help ABF build and implement non-agricultural interventions where needed. |
| ABF | Based on secondary data, how are patterns of financial saving changing in rural India post-COVID? What are the sources of credit, trends in savings, and bank account creation and ownership in geographies in Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, and Odisha? | This evidence will help ABF build and implement their interventions around financial inclusion where needed. |
| People's Science Institute (PSI) | How can we conduct a valuation of ecosystem services provided by springsheds? Can we quantify the benefits through a cost-benefit analysis? | It will help to push for National Level program on Springshed Management. |
| PSI | What are the pathways for bacterial contamination of springs and groundwater sources in urban areas? What factors contribute to this contamination? | This will help septic water and groundwater management in urban areas in mountainous regions where PSI and its partners work. |
| PSI | Develop a block level agri-water management plan for Hindon basin in Uttar Pradesh. | It will help PSI in implementing their watershed management work in Hindon. |
| PSI | In areas where non-conventional agroecological farming practices exist, what is the difference in microbial activity and its subsequent effect on soil health in the study region? | To design a program around NPM farming that moves farmers away from pesticide and synthetic fertiliser use. |
| PSI | What are the variations in conventional agroecological practices in the study area? Using an ecosystems perspective, identify and quantify the effects of these variations in practices on a) water savings, b) soil health, and c) greenhouse gas emissions. | It will help PSI design region specific farmer friendly practices and also push for evidence base policy advocacy for agroecology. |
| PSI | a) What are the push factors that drive youth in rural areas in mountainous regions to migrate to urban areas? What can livelihoods programs provide to these youth to help them earn a living wage and abate distress migration to urban areas? b) How do these factors and solutions differ in Uttarakhand versus Bundelkhand? How do they compare when we conduct a cost benefit analysis of such livelihood programs in each region? | To design effective livelihoods programs for rural youth in the areas where PSI and its partners work. |
| INREM Foundation | What type of water quality problems have a significant impact on crop yield? Are farmers really feeling the pinch in crop yields, especially in high salinity area? Will this be a strong incentive for farmers to act on preventive measures for these water quality issues? | This will help INREM bring water quality issues into visibility for the farming sector and make it an economically viable proposition to act upon. |
| INREM Foundation | Does groundwater recharge help with diluting of some water contamination and leaching? If so, for which and in what contexts? What other mechanisms of watershed management are required to aid this dilution? | This will help in building evidence on how groundwater recharge be of value in addressing water quality issues. |
| INREM Foundation | What health issues do farm cattle have, and what productivity losses occur to farm animals, because of water quality issues? | The final goal is to move towards animal water safety standards; there is currently no WASH sector for livestock, which this will help build evidence towards. |
Matched Questions
We have already assigned these research questions to master’s students.
| Research Client | Question | Application |
|---|---|---|
| Water For People | Do fertilisers leaching from agricultural lands contaminate surface water and groundwater in a watershed (likely to vary from watershed to watershed and crop to crop)? If there is contamination, does it lead to health-related challenges? | This evidence will be used to put together a programme that helps farmers move away from synthetic fertilisers. |
| ACIWRM | Why do farmers in canal command areas in Maharashtra pay a cess, but farmers in Karnataka do not? | The insights from the study would help create better systems for the functioning of water user cooperative societies and cess collection. |
| ACIWRM | Based on remote sensing data, what is the NDVI signature/source of water being used for irrigation? Can we compare NDVI signatures for canal versus well irrigated crops to answer where the water for irrigation is coming from? | This research study will contribute to the client's work around conjunctive water use in parts of Karnataka. |
| Gram Vikas | What is the correlation between district-level weather forecasts and the weather at the village level? Can a model be developed to establish a correction factor that communities can use to predict the village-level weather from the district-level forecast? | The study will enable better weather forecasting and alerts for farmers. |