Parts of the states have moved to alternative sowing methods and away from water-intensive crops this Kharif season
Punjab and Haryana have small but reassuring strides this kharif season towards arresting the fast-deteriorating groundwater levels.
Punjab brought 600,000 hectares under direct-seeded rice (DSR), an alternative for the traditional, water-intensive method of sowing rice. It can help reduce water consumption by as much as 35 per cent over the traditional process of transplanting rice seedlings from a nursery to waterlogged fields.
The area under DSR this season is the state’s highest so far and 100,000 hectares more than last year’s.
The improvement is despite favourable conditions towards the conventional technique. Wage rates this year were lower than in 2020 because more labourers were available, according to an official of Punjab’s agriculture department. “The rainfall was also good but still more farmers opted for DSR.”
The state, however, fell short of its target for 1 million hectares under DSR set at the beginning of the season. The goal was too ambitious anyway, said experts. The agriculture department official added:
It was unrealistic to switch a million hectares to DSR sowing. Also, the method does not work well in areas with sandy loam soil. That leaves only around 50 per cent of the state’s area.
Groundwater levels in both states have been on a rapid decline.
In Punjab, it decreased in about 85 per cent of the state between 1984 and 2016, according to the Central Ground Water Board (CGWB).
Haryana’s groundwater depletion rate is among the highest in the country: Reservoirs in 80 per cent of the 128 blocks are overexploited, critical or semi-critical, according to CGWB.
Moving away from paddy
Farmlands where paddy was sown declined by 100,000 hectares from last year’s 3.1 million hectares, state government figures showed. The area was most likely shifted to other less water-intensive crops, experts said.
In Haryana too area under paddy declined by 163,000 hectares from 1.5 crore hectares in 2020. This area was covered by pulses, sowing for which doubled since last year to a million hectares, said Jagraj Dandi, joint director, agriculture department of Haryana.
Paddy, the main kharif crop for both the states, is a water guzzler and responsible for the rapid decline in groundwater. In the last few years, the state governments have made various efforts and run campaigns to encourage farmers to diversify into crops like cotton, maize, pulses, among others.
The area under cotton in Punjab increased to 304,000 hectares in 2021 from 251,000 hectares in 2020. This is close to the target of 325,000 lakh hectares set for the crop this season.
In Haryana, cotton plantations decreased to 694,000 hectares this year from 739,000 hectares in 2020. Maize cultivation grew marginally to 10,000 hectares from last year’s 6,000 hectares.
Haryana has also been promoting DSR and the state government announced to give Rs 5,000 per acre to farmers opting for this technology.
It is also the second year for the state’s ‘Mera Pani Meri Virasat’ scheme, under which an incentive of Rs 7,000 is being given to farmers to switch from paddy.
For this scheme, the government is specifically targeting eight paddy-rich blocks — Babain and Ratia in Fatehabad district, Siwan and Guha in Kaithal, Shahabad and Ismailabad in Kurukshetra, Pipli and Sirsa in Sirsa district — where the groundwater levels have dropped below 40 metres.
The registration figures for the scheme, however, were not encouraging: Only 90,000 farmers registered during the 2021 kharif season.
“Field verification is ongoing and actual sowing under the scheme will be clear after that,” said Suresh Gahlawat, additional director, agriculture, Haryana.
We are a voice to you; you have been a support to us. Together we build journalism that is independent, credible and fearless. You can further help us by making a donation. This will mean a lot for our ability to bring you news, perspectives and analysis from the ground so that we can make change together.
.png)
Comments are moderated and will be published only after the site moderator’s approval. Please use a genuine email ID and provide your name. Selected comments may also be used in the ‘Letters’ section of the Down To Earth print edition.