Impacts of climate change on future crop water demand in an agricultural watershed in Mayurbhanj district of Odisha, India

warming and anthropogenic climate change are global drivers of changes in rainfall pattern, hydrologic processes, streamflows, groundwater level, water resources availability, and frequency and intensity of hydroclimatic extremes (droughts, floods, heat waves), and are also likely to impact water quality, agricultural productivity, food security, socio-economic development, and community resilience at local-to-regional levels (IPCC, 2021). Though rainfed agriculture is most prevalent in India, irrigation using surface and groundwater resources is also practised in many places to meet the growing demands of production, for instance, in non-rainy (Rabi) season. Especially since the crop evapotranspiration and irrigation demand depend on local climate (temperature, rainfall, evapotranspiration, among other factors), the impacts of climate change on agrarian activities and irrigation water requirement also need to be investigated in a regional context. Hence, it is necessary to understand and evaluate the impacts of climate change on the different resource systems and to adapt to the uncertainties of future climate by means of sustainable practices (Rehana and Mujumdar, 2013; Aswathi et al., 2022; Abrha and Hagos, 2022). Sustainable water management in future in agricultural communities can be possible by adopting integrated resources management, precision agriculture, and decision support systems for irrigation scheduling, based on regional level studies and analyses.