Paddy and sugarcane emptying India’s water resources

Here are the key findings of a recent study done by agricultural economist Ashok Gulati, and Gayathri Mohan. It has been published as a working paper by the Indian Council for Research on International Economic Relations (ICRIER).

• Paddy (in Punjab) and sugarcane (in Maharashtra) are India’s most water-guzzling crops, using up 60% of the country’s total irrigation water resources. However, procurement policies and water and power subsidies are skewing profitability and distorting crop decisions.
• If we can reduce of the water usage of paddy and sugarcane, we can solve the water problem, since agricultural usage accounts for at least 80% of total water resources.
• Paddy farmers in Punjab need thrice the amount of irrigation water used by farmers in Bihar to produce one kilogram of rice. Punjab faces rapidly increasing groundwater depletion at a rate of up to 120 cm per year. Yet, the government’s robust paddy procurement policy and farmers’ access to highly subsidised power for irrigation means that rice cultivation on a per hectare basis remains high in Punjab.
•  No State is willing to reform power subsidies. State electricity boards are in the red because of subsidised power for farmers and power is being stolen by others (in the name of agriculture) for non-agricultural purposes.
• If we have metering or charging for water usage, then farmers will realise it is not free of cost, and there will be a more judicial use of water and an incentive to diversify to less water-intensive crops. Farmers will shift to corn, which uses one-fifth the amount of irrigation water in comparison to rice, if they can be sure they will be able to sell it at a profit.
•  Irrigation water productivity of Maharashtra’s sugarcane is lower than crops such as cotton, tur or groundnut. Sugarcane uses almost two-thirds of the State’s irrigation water. With guaranteed irrigation and sales, cane farmers in Maharashtra are reluctant to change to other crops.
• In order to align cropping patterns better, marketing opportunities for sugar and procurement policies for rice must be strengthened in water-rich States, and marketing risks of less water intensive crops reduced. Farmer incomes should be supported with direct benefit transfers rather than water and power subsidies.

The ICRIER team has also completed work on a water atlas, to be published soon by NABARD, which will track the water usage of ten major crops.

(This post is based on an item published in The Hindu dated May 6, 2018.)

Note that the main points of the quoted study are already known. The study only gives scientific support to what we know:

• Giving free power to farmers is not a good idea. Farmers tend to overuse their water resources and eventually they will pay a heavy price for it.
• The water table in Punjab and elsewhere in the country has been falling rapidly.
• Farmers tend to over-irrigate their fields. Too much water actually carries away the fertilizer needed by the plant.