As paddy season nears, a look at why Punjab fails to bring down cultivation area despite ground water depletion warnings
Reports indicate that the area under water-saving systems like micro-irrigation system for non-paddy crops is not increasing in Punjab; state also sought less fund under Per Drop, More Crop scheme.
6 min read
Wheat is the second largest crop after paddy in terms of area coverage. (File Photo/Gurmeet Singh)Despite warnings of an in imminent desert-like situation in near future, Punjab has drastically failed to reduce the area under paddy cultivation in the past four decades. In fact the state is still facing the prospect of a large area being planted with paddy in the coming season when the planting of saplings begins in June. Several reports have predicted an arid condition for Punjab in the coming decades due to the over-exploitation of groundwater resources.
This depletion has largely been driven by the state’s traditional paddy and wheat cropping cycles, which have been practised for over six decades. Despite successive governments’ efforts to reduce the area under paddy, they have failed not only in decreasing the area of cultivation, but also in promoting water-saving measures such as the installation of micro-irrigation systems (MIS), such as drip irrigation, sprinkler systems, and rain guns—each designed to conserve large amounts of water—in several non-paddy crops since their introduction in 2006-07.
Reports indicate that in the past few years Punjab’s rice area is increasing instead of decreasing. The state witnessed 32 lakh hectares dedicated to rice (paddy and basmati) cultivation in the last Kharif season and 35 lakh hectares under wheat in the Rabi season. Together, these crops account for around 88% and 95% area, respectively, of 36.50 lakh hectares of the state’s total agricultural area, and Paddy is heavily reliant on flood irrigation, which exploits vast amounts of water.
Punjab’s Micro-Irrigation adoption to other states
As of now, since 2006-07 only around 49,780 hectares in Punjab are under the MIS, while the state cultivates a total of around 41.28 lakh hectares under agricultural and horticultural crops. Of this, about 4.82 lakh hectares are devoted to horticultural crops like fruits and vegetables.
Out of the total area under micro-irrigation, 15,173 hectares have been brought under the “Per Drop, More Crop” (PDMC) scheme, a centrally sponsored initiative launched in 2015-16. This scheme, implemented under the Rashtriya Krishi Vikas Yojana since 2022-23, focuses on enhancing water-use efficiency through micro-irrigation methods such as drip and sprinkler systems.
However, Punjab’s demand for financial assistance under this scheme has been relatively low compared to other states. Between 2015 and 2024, Punjab received only ₹56 crore under this scheme, while states like Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Gujarat, Maharashtra, Gujarat, and Andhra Pradesh, received up to 10 to 25 times more funding. For example, Karnataka alone brought 18.01 lakh hectares under the scheme — 21.59 per cent of the total area covered in India under PDMC since 2015-16. Even neighbouring Rajasthan and Haryana are ahead of Punjab with 7. 08 lakh and 1.68 lakh hecatres under MIS. Punjab’s contribution to the national effort in terms of micro-irrigation coverage under PMDC is just 0.18%, with only 1.2% of the state’s total cultivable area under micro-irrigation.
Groundwater depletion in Punjab:
As many as 116 of the state’s 153 agricultural blocks have been categorised as ‘over-exploited’ or ‘critical’. These blocks are further divided into two categories: 63 ‘orange’ blocks, where groundwater extraction exceeds 200%, and 53 ‘yellow’ blocks, where the development ranges from 100% to 199%. Both categories urgently require water conservation measures. The remaining 37 blocks are considered ‘green’, meaning they require sustainable water management practices to maintain groundwater levels.
The potential of drip Irrigation
Drip irrigation, which delivers water directly to the plant’s root system, offers significant potential for water savings compared to traditional flood irrigation. Experts said that Punjab can easily cover all horticulture crops, which are grown on 4.82 lakh hectares, and around 2-3 lakh hectares area of sugarcane, oil seeds, pulses, maize, cotton etc. under it in the first go. The cost of installing drip irrigation comes between Rs. 90,000 to Rs 1 lakh per acre with 80% subsidy to General category farmers and 90% subsidy for women, handicapped, and Scheduled Caste farmers.
“Micro-irrigation not only conserves water but also reduces fertilizer usage through fertigation, a method of applying water-soluble fertilizers directly to crops through the irrigation system. This process optimizes labour costs, reduces input expenses, and can enhance crop yield by as much as upto 100% depending on the crop type. Studies on MIS have shown that farmers can see income boosts of up to 70%, while water usage efficiency improves by 30% to 70%, saving between 30% and 50% of water when properly designed and managed,” said a senior officer in Punjab Soil and Conservation Department.
This raises the question why the area under MIS is not growing, especially when the state’s water table is rapidly depleting and state can easily bring non-paddy crops under MIS. The primary reason is the provision of free power for irrigation.
Despite huge demand of water for paddy, experts conducted trials of micro-irrigation systems (MIS) in paddy fields. “In trials of micro-irrigation for paddy, we found that water savings were 48% with Direct Seeding of Rice (DSR) methods and 32% with conventional paddy transplanting (through the puddled method),” said Dr. Rakesh Sharda, principal scientist (Plasticulture), Soil and Water Engineering Department, Punjab Agricultural University (PAU), Ludhiana. However, the cost of implementing drip irrigation in paddy fields is high—around Rs 1.80 lakh per acre — as it requires a specific type of drip irrigation system, which is not covered under the subsidy. Even for non-paddy crops, adoption of MIS remains low, with the main hindrance being the provision of free power for irrigation in Punjab.
Revisiting subsidies and policies: A path forward
Experts suggest that to encourage the adoption of drip irrigation, the state government must reconsider its free power subsidy structure. Instead of offering blanket 100 per cent power subsidies for water intensive crops’ cultivation, they propose reallocating resources to subsidize the installation of micro-irrigation systems for non-paddy crops. Furthermore, farmers must receive proper training on how to operate, maintain, and optimize these systems for maximum efficiency. The government’s ability to rethink current policies can lead to wide adoption of MIS and to save the future of Punjab’s agriculture, said an expert from Punjab hydrology department.
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