This research project started in collaboration with Daizo Sugimoto, Professor, Department of Economics, Meijo University, Japan. It aims to understand the challenges related to surface irrigation systems in the face of adverse climatic conditions, and the effects on agriculture and farmers at the village level.

As part of the project, a three-member research team, including Professor Sugimoto, visited the village Alabujanahalli in Mandya district, Karnataka, in January 2024. The village Alabujanahalli is located in the Cauvery-irrigated region of South Karnataka. Know more about the field visit here.

Between August and September 2024, Professor Sugimoto and Daisuke Sakata, Associate Professor, Kanagawa University, Japan,  along with a three-member team from FAS, visited the lower Cauvery delta in Tamil Nadu. The ten-day field visit involved household surveys with farmers from different sections of the village economy, case studies, and interviews with relevant administrative officials from the Cauvery Delta region.

The survey team shared the preliminary impressions from the visit in an in-house seminar at the Foundation’s office on September 2, 2024.

Know more about the field visit here.

As part of the project, a fifteen-day field visit was conducted in two phases: the first from September 21 to 27, 2025, and the second from October 8 to 15, 2025. Professor Sugimoto visited the Mandya region in Karnataka along with a four-member team from FAS, including Sethu C. A. (Senior Research Assistant), Arindam Das (Joint Director), Tapas Modak (Joint Director), and Viswas Vinod, an intern at the Foundation and an MA Public Policy student at the National Law School of India University.

The team carried out household surveys with farmers across different sections of the village economy, conducted detailed case studies, and interviewed key administrative officials from the Upper Cauvery Basin region. Know more about the field visit here.