Scholars
Praharsh M. Patel
Pennsylvania State University
Based in
United States
North America
My research focuses on environmental policies’ intended/unintended consequences on sustainable development in resource-crunched economies. I am interested in water resources and their impact on socioeconomic development, especially groundwater. I am a researcher as well as a practitioner working in the domain of environmental and agricultural sustainability. I founded “Prayaas: The Movement for Grassroot” changes in Kachchh, India. The organization works for livelihood sustainability and upskilling of the communities to mitigate climate change impacts. I have been awarded National Youth Award by the Government of India for working on water and agricultural sustainability challenges.
![](https://cssn.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/05/Praharsh-M-Patel-Headshot.jpg)
Country(ies) of Specialty
United States China Haiti IndiaFocus areas of expertise
Climate policy and politics Renewable energy Behavioral action AgriculturePublications
Journal Articles
Patel, P.M. (2023). “Agricultural transformations in the arid, drought-prone region of Kachchh: People-led, market-oriented growth under adverse climatic conditions.” Front. Sustain. Food Syst. 7:1159011. doi: 10.3389/fsufs.2023.1159011
Ashraf, M., Arshad, A., Patel, P. M., Khan, A., Qamar, H., Siti-Sundari, R., Ghani, M. U., Amin, A., & Babar, J. R. (2021). “Quantifying climate-induced drought risk to livelihood and mitigation actions in Balochistan.” Natural Hazards, 109(3), 2127–2151.
Patel, P. M., Saha, D., & Shah, T. (2020). “Sustainability of groundwater through community-driven distributed recharge: An analysis of arguments for water-scarce regions of semi-arid India.” Journal of Hydrology: Regional Studies, 29.
Book Chapters
Patel, P. M., Saha, D., (2022) “Groundwater: A juggernaut of socio-economic development and stability in the arid region of Kachchh” in Re, V., Manzione, R.L., Abiye, T.A., Mukherji, A., & MacDonald, A. (Eds.). Groundwater for Sustainable Livelihoods and Equitable Growth (1st ed.). CRC Press.
Blogs
“The Treasure Beneath the Surface: The role of groundwater in the development of the Kachchh region of India”, Penn State Association of Water Students (PAWS). (22 Jun 2022)
“Electric Vehicles in India: Can we protect the environment & also help the economy”, with Ishani Paladurkar, Down to Earth. (6 Apr 2022)
“The Tale of Two Disasters: Role of science communication for disaster risk reduction”, with Ishani Paladurkar, India Water Portal. (15 Mar 2022)
“Drying veins of Ganga: Can we have ‘Nirmal Ganga’ with dying tributaries?”, with Adeel Khan, India Water Portal. (27 Aug 2020)
“Sunk cost”, India Development Review. (4 Aug 2020)
“Pumping Groundwater to Harnessing Rainfall: A tale of two states”, with Dipankar Saha & Tushaar Shah, India Water Portal. (1 Jul 2020)
“Fruit of their labour”, India Development Review. (13 May 2020)
“Horticulture pile-up, yet farmers stare at losses in Kachchh”, India Water Portal. (10 May 2020)
“Enabling local government systems to combat COVID-19 in India”, Down to Earth. (28 Apr 2020)
“Covid-19 is an opportunity”, Down to Earth. (30 Mar 2020)
“Unravelling NITI Aayog’s Composite Water Management Index: Veering to a pragmatic approach”, Down to Earth. (14 Jun 2019)