India already comes under the water-stressed nations. If proper steps are not taken, India can come to a water-scarce country soon. India accounts for 18% of the population as compared to the total population of the world and the there is only 4%of fresh water is available for us.
With the increase in population, the demand for food and water is increasing. Water pollution, frequent droughts, and climate change are affecting the economy of India. Global warming also aggravated the probe of groundwater.
Currently, the problem lies in the fact that we are lacking in the proper management of water and are not able to utilize the water properly. In the farm production, the rank of India is 2nd. This can be understood as that agriculture is using 90% of groundwater. The rank of India creates a stressful situation to maintain this rank and it is directly having pressure on water resources.
Water for Agriculture: The Indian Scenario
Agriculture consumes nearly 80% to 90% of water. We are using 70% of groundwater for the irrigation and other 10% of the water from other water sources. If we talk about irrigation wells, India comes on the top list. In India, there are 30 million irrigation wells. This is twice the number of wells in the United States.
We are utilizing the water resources in India in an unsustainable manner. We can elaborate on the unsustainable manner in the form of distorted subsidies that provide free electricity to pump water and people are misusing the water resource. As per the study, the groundwater is depleting at a rate of 0.3 meters annually.
As irrigation uses massive amounts of water, we need to implement strategies like per drop more crop. With less water consumption, food productivity should be higher. Food security is also required to fulfill the demands of the increasing population.
Now, we are discussing the crop pattern in India, we are growing rice, wheat, and sugarcane. These crops need heavy water. One of the reasons for the production of these crops is the Public Distribution System of India. The govt is providing subsidies and free food to the poor people in the country. The free food mainly has wheat and rice.
As demand for wheat, rice, and sugarcane is higher, farmers harvest these crops. If govt provides incentives to the farmer for the production of other crops like pulses, the consumption of water can be reduced.
The farmers who are living in water-stressed regions still growing wheat and rice as they get MSP on the crops from govt. This pattern will reduce the water level further. Punjab and Maharastra top in the cultivation of rice and sugarcane. We are thinking about only food production but we are not thinking about the water level of the region.
Indian Govt has taken several steps to stop the overuse of water. One of the initiatives in water conservation is the creation of the Ministry of Jal Shakti in 2019. Many irrigation techniques have been shown to the farmers that will use less water like drip irrigation. In the next part of the article, we are going to discuss the govt schemes that are for water conservation.
Pradhan Mantri Krishi Sinchayee Yojana -PMKSY
PMKSY scheme was started in 2015. The scheme forces the cultivation of protective crops in agriculture farms across India. The water in the farms must be used efficiently. The farmers are taught to adopt precision agriculture techniques. This scheme also promotes the recharge of aquifers and stimulates sustainable water conservation.
Atul Bhujal Yojana
The Atul Bhujal Yojana was started specially for groundwater management. The scheme wants the participation from the community and focuses on demand-based usage of water. The scheme was launched in 2020. Initially, the scheme was implemented in 8353 water-stressed Gram Panchayats in states like Haryana, Karnataka, Maharashtra, Rajasthan, Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh, and Uttar Pradesh.
Micro Irrigation Fund, NABARD
Indian govt has issued a fund of Rs 5000 crore for the micro-irrigation techniques. This fund will support the state governments and they can adopt the techniques of PMKSY.
Sahi Fasal Campaign, National Water Mission
To save water, it is required to cultivate the right crop in the right region. In water-stressed areas, we should stop the cultivation of rice, wheat, or other heavy-water crops. There is a need to have surveys for agro-climatic-hydro characteristics for particular regions before any crop cultivation.
Farmers need to be aware of the water and food types for their regions and there should be proper awareness camps that will enlighten the concept of water and food. The possible list of alternative crops, the availability of seed for those crops, and teaching methods of cultivation of alternative crops needed our attention. Govt can provide subsidies for the cultivation of alternative crops that require less water.
The Cobb-Douglas Framework
The Cobb-Douglas function implies an Indian agriculture pattern. This function studies the fact that if extra unit of water supply to the crop will increase the yield of the crop or not. The focus is on the water input required for the production of each crop. There should be proper parameters that should be set like how much water is needed at what time of the crop. The utilization of water needed to be optimized.
The Econometric Framework and Estimation Process
We need to calculate how much water gives us what amount of food. We said it was an average product of water. We need to consider the nutritional information of the crops too. If we are getting additional nutrition by adding an extra unit of water, we can use more water in the crops. We should calculate the annual water use for a crop. Some crops can be harvested at the time of monsoon which requires high water consumption. We can follow proper steps to calculate water consumed by the crops and water consumption will be different for different crops.
- First, we need to calculate the crop water requirement.
- The second step is to calculate the water input at different intervals of time.
FAQ
What is the water productivity of crops?
The crop yield per cubic meter of water consumption is known as water productivity.
Which crop needs less water?
Finger Millet (Ragi) uses less water.