Deadline: 12 May 2020
This joint DST-NWO research call aims to contribute to Cleaning the Ganga, which is defined as high priority field for the Indian and Dutch governments and water sector. The call will focus in particular on the impact of agriculture on the Ganga water system and the related scopes for interventions. The Hindon sub-basin is selected as case area. The call addresses several SDG’s, in particular 2 (Zero Hunger), 6 (Clean Water and Sanitation) and 13 (Climate Action). In The Netherlands this topic links to the top sectors Water & Maritime, Horticulture & Starting Materials and Agro&Food and one of the 4 societal missions defined in the new Mission-Oriented Research and Innovation Policy, ‘Agriculture, water and food’. This call in Indian context will be in line with the significant National Missions such as “Namami Ganga” and “Swatch Bharat”.
There is a long history of scientific collaboration between India and the Netherlands. The Dutch Research Council (NWO), through the Merian Fund, and the Department of Science and Technology (DST) aim to further stimulate long term research collaboration between their two countries by funding joint research, to strengthen the international position and global impact of their research.
Funding is provided for interdisciplinary and transdisciplinary consortia of Indian and Dutch research groups and stakeholder partners, for high quality research that has the potential for societal and scientific impact.
NWO and DST have agreed on strategic knowledge and innovation agendas. A call for proposals on a jointly agreed theme based on this agenda is planned to be published annually. Funded research should be in alignment with national research agendas, as well as international initiatives such as the UN Sustainable Development Goals, and build bridges between different actors in the knowledge chain, fundamental and applied research, and scientific disciplines.
Aim
Many societal challenges are complex and interrelated. To address them requires collaboration, flexibility and creativity to achieve results for effective and impactful solutions. DST and NWO aim to stimulate strong, sustainable research collaboration between their two countries, in projects that work on scientific knowledge and sustainable, innovative solutions with high scientific and societal impact. They do this by inviting consortia in which researchers from knowledge institutions from both countries will work together with partners from public, semi-public and/or private organisations (for-profit and not-for-profit), in order to increase the societal relevance and impact of their research. Research consortia are expected to make optimal use of the Indian-Dutch research strengths in different disciplines and build on existing knowledge and ongoing relevant initiatives much as possible.
Thematic Focus
- Cleaning the Ganga: The river Ganga stretches from the hills of Uttarakhand to its delta in West Bengal, where it covers the area between Gangotri and the Bay of Bengal. Along that route, the Ganga provides a life line for about 450 million people in high population density zones in India, including more than 50 major cities located in its basin. Its waters contain around 25% of all water resources of India. The river basin significantly contributes to food production with 50% of the area irrigated for agriculture and a high potential for fisheries.
- Impact of agriculture on the Ganga water system: Pollution from domestic/urban sources, industries, agriculture and alterations in surface water hydrology and groundwater are considered key water management issues for the Ganga river basin. Existing research and public-private initiatives on cleaning the Ganga mainly focus on urban/domestic and industrial pressures. The impact of agriculture, however, on the water quality and quantity of the Ganga river system is significant yet inadequately understood. The effects of agri-chemicals, like pesticides and fertilizers, and over-extraction of groundwater, which prevents effective dilution of pollutants, need to be determined before effective interventions for improvement can be proposed.
- Case area: Hindon sub-basin: The Hindon basin in the State of Uttar Pradesh is one of the most negatively affected sub-basins of the Ganga river basin, and therefore selected as case area in this call. Water quality does not meet standards, is unsafe for drinking and bathing, and degrades further downstream as 34 drains along the river path of Hindon discharge mostly untreated sewage effluents into the river. Upstream districts are relatively more rural, downstream districts more urbanised. Saharanpur, Muzaffarnagar, Shamli and Baghpat are the main agricultural districts.
- Research Areas: This joint DST-NWO research call aims to contribute to Cleaning the Ganga, in particular related to the impact of agriculture on the Ganga water system in the Hindon sub-basin. This requires a better understanding of the impact of agriculture on the water quality and availability in the catchment area of the Hindon, taking into account the above-mentioned issues. Furthermore, the call aims for knowledge to develop effective interventions in the agricultural water management to reduce negative effects, including technical and non-technical application-oriented solutions as well as the governance and policy recommendations required for sustainable implementation. Three areas of research are being distinguished that are all expected to be addressed in the research project to some extent.
- River basin system understanding, data and monitoring: There is a need for comprehensive and holistic monitoring and mapping of the water resources across Hindon.
- Interventions to improve agricultural water management: The research should focus on technical and nontechnical interventions needed to minimize the footprint of the agricultural sector on the water system in terms of quantity and quality.
- Recommendations for implementation: Research in this programme should contribute to increased awareness of the impact of agriculture on the Ganga water systems, on different levels from policymakers to individual farmers.
Funding Information
- The total budget for this call is M € 1.4 on the Dutch, and Rs. 11 crores on the Indian side. With the available total budget, NWO and DST aim to fund up to two projects with a duration of five years each.
- Projects can apply for a maximum of €700.000 at NWO and a maximum of Rs. 5.5 crores from DST.
Eligibility Criteria
- Applications can be submitted by consortia that include at least:
- Two different research organisations that are based in the Netherlands,
- Two different recognised academic institutions and/or public funded research & development organisations that are based in India, and
- A partner from a public, semi-public or private practitioner organisation (for-profit or not for-profit).
- Eligible consortia are composed of researchers based in the Kingdom of the Netherlands and in India, with active involvement in the project of a senior Principal Investigator (PI) on both the Dutch and the Indian side.
- Each Principal Investigator and consortium can only submit one proposal.
For more information, visit https://dst.gov.in/callforproposals/dst-nwo-joint-indo-dutch-call-cleaning-ganga-and-agri-water