The Green Revolution bypassed Bihar in its first wave in the 1960s and 1970s. Subsequently, during a short interval in the late 1980s and early 1990s, the agricultural growth rate reached almost 3 percent per year, one of the highest in the country, though over a smaller base.

This research analysis is focused on the identification of the agricultural water use and land scaling effects to rural livelihoods in Indo-Gangetic basin (IGB) with emphasis to Bihar state. In particular, water use and landholding factors are widely acknowledged as major determinants of agricultural development and hence rural wealth in IGB basin and Bihar.

In the northeast region of India, the societal water use is less than 5 per cent of the existing potential. This leads to vast devastation, poor crop yields, constrained livelihood options, malnutrition and drudgery. The region and the households witness `water poverty