India is an agricultural powerhouse and dominates the production of essential food grains such as rice, wheat, and pulses. This also places India at the forefront of producing water-intensive crops. In particular, paddy production in India caters to domestic demand and serves as a significant export commodity. However, the country's agriculture sector is thriving at the cost of its finitely extractable groundwater resources that are used for irrigation.
Between 2016 and 2024, the global population increased from 7.56 billion to 8.2 billion, and India's population increased from 1.29 billion to 1.45 billion. Meanwhile, according to the Central Groundwater Board (CGWB) Report on Groundwater Assessment, the groundwater used for irrigation increased from 38% in 2016-17 to 52% in 2023-24. The situation is expected to intensify further in the coming years.
As a result of the current farming practices and the increasing population, most districts of the top paddy-producing states such as Rajasthan (19), Punjab (19), and Haryana (14) have overexploited their groundwater for irrigation purposes. This has numerous repercussions such as the over-exploitation of groundwater, its salinization, and the concentration of pollutants that adversely impact the quantity and quality of extractable groundwater. Notably, most districts in Punjab, Haryana, and Rajasthan over-extract their groundwater for irrigation purposes. In addition to this, excessive use of fertilizers, especially for paddy cultivation, deteriorates the groundwater quality.
This story is from the January 10, 2025 edition of Financial Express Hyderabad.
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This story is from the January 10, 2025 edition of Financial Express Hyderabad.
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