Punjab farmers lose the ground beneath their feet

The image of the prosperous Punjabi farmer is proving to be the biggest undoing for agriculture in the state. Dropping groundwater levels, c...

The image of the prosperous Punjabi farmer is proving to be the biggest undoing for agriculture in the state. Dropping groundwater levels, coupled with a drought that may not even be graced with that description (see box), are threatening the ground beneath the farmers’ feet.

For a reality-check, listen to a straight-faced minister in the state Assembly recently: ‘‘Of the 12,676 villages in Punjab, 11,849 (or 93 per cent) have been classified as problem villages where drinking water supply is very deficient.’’ The farm sector presents a picture perfectly in sync.

According to the Punjab Irrigation Department, the total available water resources in the state add up to 31.3 lakh hectare meters (ha m), of which 14.5 lakh ha m is supplied by canals. Ground water recharge (rains and seepage canals) accounts for 16.8 ha m.

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The demand, to sustain present production levels — 8880 thousand metric tonnes (MT) of paddy from 2539 thousand hectares; 14,175 thousand MT wheat from 3375 thousand hectares in 2002-03 — is pegged at 43.7 lakh ha m even by conservative estimates. The difference of 12.4 lakh m, then, is made up by overexploitation of groundwater.

For corroboration, check out the tubewell stats in the state. Punjab currently has 10,65,175 tubewells. And applications for over two lakh new connections are pending, most for more than five years, according to the director, Agriculture, Punjab.

At present 75 per cent of the 42.4 lakh hectare agri-area is irrigated by tubewells. In 1960, only 54 per cent of the cultivated area was irrigated and tubewells numbered less than a lakh. The Green Revolution woke up the state to the easy availability of good quality groundwater, and centrifugal pumps increased the irrigated area from 54 per cent to 95 per cent by 2002.

Every single one of these statistics is mentioned in the report on ‘Agricultural Production Pattern Adjustment Programme in Punjab for Productivity and Growth’, aka the Johl Committee report, probably the most-talked-about document in Punjab agriculture.

	THE DROUGHT THAT ISN’T

	• In July 2002, Punjab received 42.5 mm rainfall. Every farmer described it as a drought, but the government didn’t. This July, the state registered 33 mm rainfall. But there isn’t much chance it will get official recognition as a drought. Ironically, the industry of state farmers could be responsible for this quixotic situation. Central norms make it mandatory for at least 25 per cent of the standing crop to be completely destroyed by drought for a region to be considered drought-hit. For losses between 25 per cent and 75 per cent, compensation is Rs 700/acre, and for over 75 per cent crop loss, it is pegged at Rs 2000/acre. Because of the harsh norms and meagre compensations, Punjab farmers prefer to burden themselves with more loans, over-exploit tubewell irrigation and burn more power or diesel instead of letting crops be destroyed: this way, they break even or suffer less loss. Financial Commissioner (Development) Gurbinder Chahal and CM Amarinder Singh want re-formulation of the norms, but little progress is expected. Story continues below this ad

Its author S S Johl, renowned agri-expert and academic, received a Minister rank and was made an Adviser to the CM; his recommendations were made the crux of its demands before the 12th Finance Commission. But earlier this month, Johl, fed up with the governmental inaction on his report, resigned.

Food grain-propelled policies, the MSP regime, the failure to focus on diversification and agro-processing ensured a wheat-paddy cycle fixation, helped by reliance on tubewells. Currently, 60 per cent of the Kharif area is under paddy; for Rabi, 78 per cent is under wheat. Paddy requires about 20-25 irrigations, wheat needs four-five rounds.

The natural corollary is a falling water table. ‘‘Groundwater is dropping by 30 cm every year. In 28 per cent area of the state, critical table depth is already over 10 meters. In Central Punjab, the water table was deeper than the critical depth is three per cent of the area in 1973, in 25 per cent area in 1990, and 46 per cent in 1994,’’ says Dr Johl.

The figures have their social implications as well. The falling water table has nudged out centrifugal pumps in favour of submersible pumps, which are 5-6 times more expensive than the first. To lift the same quantity of water from 10 metre depth requires twice the power, for lifting water from 15 meters, three times more power is required.

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Power is already a precious commodity — under a scheme titled Assured 24-hour supply, power cuts extend from between eight hours and 16 hours — and now the government’s Agricultural Department estimates that it will need Rs 4,000 crore to replace all centrifugal pumps in the next three years. It’s the kind of money Government simply does not have. And for 45 per cent of farmers officially classified as small and marginal, with average land holdings of less than 2 hectares, it will be impossible to install these pumps.

‘‘These farmers would either have to sell their lands or stop farming. This might lead to social unrest in rural Punjab,’’ says a top official of Agriculture Department. Johl agrees. A different view is yet to emerge in Punjab. Just as a solution has yet to emerge, talk of diversification notwithstanding.