Skip to main content

Advertisement

SpringerLink
Log in

Drivers of change in groundwater resources: a case study of the Indian Punjab

  • Original Paper
  • Published:
Food Security Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Indian Punjab, a strategically important region from India’s national food security standpoint, is increasingly the focus of attention for academics and policymakers because of serious concerns about over-exploitation of its groundwater resources. Currently, policy makers and agricultural researchers/scientists in India are in a fix to prescribe an alternative, probably more sustainable, crop-mix to farmers that can save water while maintaining farm incomes. Using primary data from 120 farmers, this paper evaluates the current situation of groundwater resources in Punjab, and outlines the major socio-economic factors that have a significant association with the change in the groundwater depth in this region. General ANOVA regression results suggest that groundwater depth varied significantly with respect to agro-climatic regions, crop diversity, and farmer education. Crop diversity had an inverse relationship with groundwater depth whereas the association between farmer education and groundwater depth was non-linear although in the case of Gurdaspur, they showed a direct relationship. In the central zone of Indian Punjab, groundwater level on 92% of the farms had depleted by more than 0.60 m annually between 2000 and 2010, while the current state of groundwater resources in the other two regions was not so serious and are manageable for the time being. However, if the existing policy framework for groundwater resources in the state, which allows the state government to release 0.11 million more connections to farmers, putting much pressure not only on the groundwater resources but also burdening the state exchequer, continues, Punjab may end up losing all its groundwater resources for ever. Considering this alarming situation, one-fifth of the farmers surveyd agreed to delay the sowing of rice by another 2 weeks i.e. up to 30 June which could save the fast depleting groundwater resources in Punjab.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Fig. 1
Fig. 2
Fig. 3
Fig. 4
Fig. 5
Fig. 6
Fig. 7

Similar content being viewed by others

Notes

  1. The Rabi (winter) growing season runs from November/December through April with the major crops being wheat, barley, oilseeds and millet. The Kharif season refers to the summer growing period from May to November with rice, maize, and cotton as the major crops.

  2. Punjab’s average yield of wheat and rice in 2010–11 was 4.7 and 3.7 t/ha compared with 2.9 and 3.2 at national level, respectively. However, the respective world averages were 3.1 and 4.3 t/ha (GoP 2012).

  3. Stage of groundwater development = Existing gross draft for all uses/Net annual availability *100 (CGWB 2011).

  4. Block is an administrative unit used for rural planning in India. A block covers several villages. In 2009, Punjab had 20 districts, 141 blocks and 12,278 inhabited villages (GoP 2009).

  5. Punjab can be broadly divided into three agro climatic regions, sub-mountainous (zone I), central (zone II), and south-western (zone III) covering 17%, 47%, and 36% of the land area respectively (Sidhu and Vatta n.d.).

  6. Here, rice refers to an ordinary variety of rice whereas basmati is a premium variety of long-grain Indian rice with a delicate fragrance.

  7. Over the Kharif season, rice and basmati, on average, require 22 and 15 irrigations, respectively, when compared to other popular Kharif crops such as cotton, sugarcane and maize which, on average, need 6, 14 and 5 irrigations respectively. In the Rabi season, wheat requires 5 irrigations compared to 4, 8 and 12 irrigations for mustard, winter maize and spring maize respectively (Singh 2012a).

  8. Surface water sources cover the south-western region and some parts of the central region only.

  9. Puddling is a process of making the upper surface of the rice field hard enough to keep the water standing in the rice field (Singh 2012).

  10. The crop diversification index dropped from 0.75 in 1975–76 (Sidhu et al. 2010) to 0.42 in 2009–10 (Singh and Benbi 2016)

  11. This paper is based on the same field survey that I, as the first author, used in my paper Singh and Benbi (2016). Thus, some contents of this paper, e.g. Material and methods, and farmer profile, might look identical to Singh and Benbi (2016).

  12. This index takes a value of 1 when there is complete concentration and approaches zero when diversification is ‘perfect’. A higher CDI indicates greater crop diversity in production patterns (Singh and Sidhu 2004).

  13. As per the latest available data on landholding distribution in Punjab (GoP 2012), about 32%, 60 and 8% of farmers are designated as small (less than 2 ha), medium (2–10 ha) and large (more than 10 ha) landholders.

  14. Punjab can be divided into three agro-climatic zones i.e. sub-mountainous, central and south-western zones covering 18%, 51 and 31% of the land area respectively (Singh 2011).

  15. Crop diversity for each farmer was calculated using the Hirschman-Herfindahl Index (HHI) explained in the Material and Methods section.

  16. Six farmers did not own tube wells and were asked to record the groundwater level estimates of their neighboring tube well. Further, as about 44% of the farmers had more than one tube well, data was used for the first tube well they reported.

  17. According to the Ministry of Water Resources (MWR 1991), the area is treated as safe from water logging if the groundwater level is 3 m below the land surface while an ordinary diesel engine operated tube well can pump out the groundwater from up to 10 m. Thus, between 4 and 10 m was considered as “a normal level”.

  18. According to the Planning Commission of India (2013), “an area is said to be waterlogged when the groundwater level rises to such an extent that the soil pores in the root zone of a crop become saturated, resulting in restriction of normal circulation of air, decline in the level of oxygen and increase in the level of carbon dioxide. The harmful depth of groundwater would depend on the type of crop, type of soil and quality of water.”

  19. The militant movement (1980–1992) aimed at creating a separate Independent State for Sikhs along with other economic and political issues jeopardized Punjab’s economy. Punjab has been borrowing continuously from national and international financial institutions including the Union government since the mid-1980s (Kaur 2010). Punjab’s present debt is Rs 7,75,850 million (GoP 2012).

References

  • CGWB. (2006). Dynamic Ground Water Resources of India (as on March 2004). Faridabad: Central Ground Water Board, Ministry of Water Resources, Government of India.

    Google Scholar 

  • CGWB. (2011). Dynamic Ground Water Resources of India (as on March 2009). Faridabad: Central Ground Water Board, Ministry of Water Resources, Government of India.

    Google Scholar 

  • CGWB. (2012). Ground Water Level Scenario in India (November-2012). Faridabad: Central Ground Water Board, Ministry of Water Resources, Government of India.

    Google Scholar 

  • CGWB. (2013). Ground Water Year Book-India 2012–13. Faridabad: Central Ground Water Board, Ministry of Water Resources, Government of India.

    Google Scholar 

  • CGWB. (2013a). Master Plan for Artificial Recharge to Ground Water in India. Faridabad: Central Ground Water Board, Ministry of Water Resources, Government of India.

    Google Scholar 

  • CGWB. (2014). Dynamic Ground Water Resources of India (as on March 2011). Faridabad: Central Ground Water Board, Ministry of Water Resources, Government of India.

    Google Scholar 

  • De Fraiture, C., & Giordano, M. (2014). Small private irrigation: A thriving but overlooked sector. Agricultural Water Management, 131, 167–174.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • GoP. (2009). Economic survey of Punjab 2008–09. Chandigarh: Economic Advisor to Government of Punjab, Government of Punjab.

    Google Scholar 

  • GoP. (2012). Statistical Abstract of Punjab. Chandigarh: Economic advisor to government of Punjab. In Government of Punjab.

    Google Scholar 

  • GoP. (2012a). Environment Statistics of Punjab. Chandigarh: Economic advisor to government of Punjab. In Government of Punjab.

    Google Scholar 

  • GoP. (2013). Statistical Abstract of Punjab. Chandigarh: Economic advisor to government of Punjab. In Government of Punjab.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hoogesteger, J., & Wester, P. (2015). Intensive groundwater use and (in)equity: Processes and governance challenges. Environmental Science and Policy, 51, 117–124.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kalkat, G. S., Pannu, K. S., Singh, K., & Rangi, P. S. (2006). Agriculture and Rural Development of Punjab. Chandigarh: Punjab State Farmers Commission, Government of Punjab.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kulkarni, H., & Shah, M. (2013). Punjab water syndrome: Diagnostics and prescriptions. Economic and Political Weekly, 48, 64–73.

    Google Scholar 

  • Larson, N., Sekhri, S., & Sidhu, R. S. (2013). Adoption of laser levelers and water-saving in agriculture: Report on a follow-up pilot study. India: International Growth Centre.

    Google Scholar 

  • MWR. (1991). Waterlogging, salinity and alkalinity, working group on identification of extent of affected areas and suggested remedial measures. New Delhi: Ministry of Water Resources, Government of India.

    Google Scholar 

  • NSSO. (2005). Situation assessment survey of farmers: Access to modern technology for farming. New Delhi: National Sample Survey Organisation, Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation.

    Google Scholar 

  • Palanisami, K., Kumar, S. D., Malik, R. P. S., Raman, S., Kar, G., & Mohan, K. (2015). Managing water management research analysis of four decades of research and outreach Programmes in India. Economic and Political Weekly, 50, 33–43.

    Google Scholar 

  • Pede, V. O., Ward, P. S., Spielman David, J. and Paris, T. (2012). Summary of the Agro-ecological and Socioeconomic Context for the Cereal Systems Initiative for South Asia (CSISA). New Delhi: International Rice Research Institute (IRRI), International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT), International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI), International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI).

  • Planning Commission of India. (2013). Report of the high level expert group on water logging in Punjab. New Delhi: Planning Commission of India, Government of India.

    Google Scholar 

  • PSFC. (2013). Agriculture Policy for Punjab. Chandigarh: Punjab State Farmers Commission, Government of Punjab.

    Google Scholar 

  • Rodell, M., Velicogna, I., & Famiglietti, J. S. (2009). Satellite-based estimates of groundwater depletion in India. Nature, 460, 999–1002.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Sarkar, A., & Das, A. (2014). Groundwater irrigation-electricity-crop diversification Nexus in Punjab: Trends, turning points, and Policy Initiatives. Economic and Political Weekly, 49, 64–73.

    Google Scholar 

  • Shergill, H. S. (2013). Improvements in soil fertility in Punjab under green revolution: The evidence and the mechanisms. Journal of Agricultural Development and Policy, 23, 18–30.

    Google Scholar 

  • Sidhu, R. S., and Vatta, K. (n.d.). Risk in Punjab Agriculture: Current Status and Emerging Issues (Unpublished paper). http://www.ncap.res.in/Agriculturalrisk&insurance/_private/chapter4%20pdf/4.2.pdf/4.2.1.pdf . Accessed 15 March 2015.

  • Sidhu, R. S., Vatta, K., & Dhaliwal, H. S. (2010). Conservation agriculture in Punjab: Economic implications of technologies and practices. Indian Journal of Agricultural Economics, 53, 1413–1427.

    Google Scholar 

  • Sidhu, R. S., Vatta, K., & Lal, U. (2011). Climate change impact and management strategies for sustainable water-energy-agriculture outcomes in Punjab. Indian Journal of Agricultural Economics, 66, 328–339.

    Google Scholar 

  • Singh, K. (2009). Act to save groundwater in Punjab: Its impact on water table, Electricity Subsidy and Environment. Agricultural Economics Research Review, 22, 365–386.

    Google Scholar 

  • Singh, S. (2009a). Low Water Saving Technologies: Some Experiences from Literature and Field. http://www.cwp-india.org/Reports/pdf/REPORT_ON_LOW_WATER_SAVING_TECHNOLOGIES-IDS_JAIPUR.pdf. Accessed 16 July 2015.

  • Singh, K. (2011). Groundwater depletion in Punjab: Measurement and countering strategies. Indian Journal of Agricultural Economics, 66, 573–589.

    Google Scholar 

  • Singh, S. (2012). Institutional and policy aspects of Punjab agriculture: A smallholder perspective. Economic and Political Weekly, 47, 51–57.

    Google Scholar 

  • Singh, K. (2012a). Electricity subsidy in Punjab agriculture: Extent and impact. Indian Journal of Agricultural Economics, 67, 617–632.

    Google Scholar 

  • Singh, S. (2013). Policy for Punjab’s agriculture will it deliver? Economic and Political Weekly, 48, 21–23.

    Google Scholar 

  • Singh, S. (2016). Rethinking diversification of agriculture in the Indian Punjab: An examination of strategy and mechanisms. In L. Singh & N. Singh (Eds.), Economic transformation of a developing economy: The experience of Punjab (pp. 77–96). India: Springer.

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  • Singh, S., & Benbi, D. K. (2016). Punjab-soil health and green revolution: A quantitative analysis of major soil parameters. Journal of Crop Improvement, 30, 323–340. https://doi.org/10.1080/15427528.2016.1157540.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Singh, J., & Sidhu, R. S. (2004). Factor in declining crop diversification: A case study of Punjab. Economic and Political Weekly, 39, 5607–5610.

    Google Scholar 

  • Sood, A. (2014). Halqa chiefs baffled over rush of applicants for tube well connection 90,000 applicants in queue, annual power subsidy bill to touch a whopping Rs 670 cr. The Tribune (online), 24 February. http://www.tribuneindia.com/2014/20140224/punjab.htm. Accessed 28 March 2014.

  • Srivastava, S. K., Chand, R., Raju, S. S., Jain, R., Kingsly, I., Sachdeva, J., Singh, J., & Kaur, A. P. (2015). Unsustainable groundwater use in Punjab agriculture: Insights from cost of cultivation survey. Indian Journal of Agricultural Economics, 70, 365–378.

    Google Scholar 

  • Tiwana, N. S., Jerath, N., Ladhar, S. S., Singh, G., Paul, R., Dua, D. K., & Parwana, H. K. (2007). State of environment: Punjab-2007. In Chandigarh: Punjab state Council for Science & technology.

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgements

We are indebted to the School of Agriculture, Policy and Development at the University of Reading and Punjab Agricultural University, Ludhiana, India for their help in conducting this study. We thank our colleagues in India, especially Professor Manjit S. Kang, Ex-VC, PAU Ludhiana, Professor Sukhpal Singh at IIM, Ahmedabad and Professor R. S. Sidhu, PAU Ludhiana for their reviews and valuable suggestions. Further, we thank all the respondents, especially the farmers, who spared much time to participate in the field survey in the hot summer season.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. School for Environment and Sustainability, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, USA

    Sukhwinder Singh

  2. School of Agriculture, Policy and Development, University of Reading, Reading, UK

    Julian Park

Authors
  1. Sukhwinder Singh
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Julian Park
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Sukhwinder Singh.

Ethics declarations

Conflict of interest

The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Singh, S., Park, J. Drivers of change in groundwater resources: a case study of the Indian Punjab. Food Sec. 10, 965–979 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12571-018-0823-2

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12571-018-0823-2

Keywords

Search

Navigation