Abstract
There is a general contention among scholars that first, wheat–paddy cropping pattern is largely responsible for declining ground water table in Punjab and secondly, that the wheat–paddy cropping system is becoming unsustainable over time as the yield levels of these two major crops are stagnating. However, the existing evidences do not throw adequate insight into the stage of groundwater depletion during which the wheat–paddy cycle becomes unsustainable. The paper strengthens the existing empirical base of sustainability status of this cropping cycle in Punjab. A comparison of irrigation systems in terms of both trends in yield and stability for wheat and paddy has been attempted to arrive at a holistic appraisal of sustainability aspects of crop specialization in Punjab. It is observed that the canal dependent irrigation system has performed better as compared to the overexploited groundwater irrigation system in terms of most of the parameters used in the study.
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Notes
In 1960–1961, area under wheat was 30% of the gross cropped area.
The method used to derive the crop combination regions is the Weaver’s Method (Weaver 1954).
It is also to be noted that Kapurthala is the traditional rice growing district of the state (Singh and Grover 1991).
It is expected that rice is being supported by tube-well irrigation even in Faridkot, where during the decades of eighties and nineties, canal was the main source of irrigation. This argument is strengthened by the fact that the increase of area under paddy in the district closely follows the trend of increase of well irrigation.
A deeper investigation probably at the household level could explain the relative yield position of Amritsar. Factors as variety of seed, quality of irrigation, methods of cultivation are important in explaining yield levels.
All the blocks in Kapurthala have been over-exploited i.e. more than 100% of its potential.
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Sarkar, A., Sen, S. & Kumar, A. Rice–wheat cropping cycle in Punjab: a comparative analysis of sustainability status in different irrigation systems. Environ Dev Sustain 11, 751–763 (2009). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10668-008-9141-8
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10668-008-9141-8