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Subsidised power leads to ‘groundwater overuse’

Highly subsidised power in Haryana is leading to overuse of groundwater for agriculture.

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Bhartesh Singh Thakur 

Highly subsidised power in Haryana is leading to overuse of groundwater for agriculture. A study of the Centre for Research in Rural and Industrial Development (CRRID), Chandigarh, has provided quantitative estimates in the wake of nearly free power supply to farmers in the state. 

The paper, published in the Economic and Political Weekly (EPW) edition of December 22, 2018, also states that the area under paddy, which is a water-intensive crop, has been increasing.

Prof Sucha Singh Gill and Dr Kulwant Singh Nehra of CRRID conducted a field study of 959 farming households of 24 villages in Kurukshetra, Sonepat, Hisar, Palwal, Jhajjar and Mahendragarh districts. 

The data show that the average number of times of actual irrigation is significantly higher than the optimum number of times of irrigation required in most of the kharif crops across the sources of irrigation, except canal irrigation. 

During the kharif season, for paddy, the recommended optimum number of times of irrigation is between 15 and 20 per acre, but the actual average number of times of irrigation through canal, electric tube well, diesel pump sets and other sources of irrigation was 18.33, 46.31, 36.70 and 39.51. 

“For paddy, the average actual number of irrigation (46) with electric tube wells in cultivation is more than double the optimum required (15 to 20). For other kharif crops also, actual irrigation through electric tube wells is much higher than the rest of the sources of irrigation. It clearly indicates over-utilisation of groundwater through electric tube wells,” says Nehra. 

The optimum irrigation cycles is based on agricultural experts and notified by the Agriculture Department of Haryana. 

Dr Nehra adds, “In rabi crops, it was observed that the average actual number of times of irrigation for sugarcane (22) through electric tube wells was perceptibly higher than the optimum required (12-14)”.  

Prof Gill explains, “There is a tendency among farmers to use an input more than the optimum level, if that input is heavily subsidised and its supply is available without any constraint. This is especially true in the case of water used for irrigation. Although the depth and number of irrigation depends on many factors, cheap or free supply without constraints leads to wasteful use”.

The paper says that irrigation source-wise, the productivity of major crops does not vary. In the case of paddy, per acre productivity was 18.53 quintals for canal irrigation, 18.74 quintals for electric tube wells, 14.16 quintals for diesel pump sets and 18.23 quintals for other sources. 

Misuse of electricity  

The cost of excess consumption of electricity in one acre of paddy comes out to be Rs 4,984.72 and the total cost for excess consumption of power for the sampled households was Rs 95.61 lakh. Similarly, the volume of excess irrigation water per acre comes out to be 4.267 acre feet and for the sampled households it comes out to be 8,184.106 acre feet. 

Recommendations 

Prof Gill says, “If the power subsidy is restricted to marginal, small and semi-medium farmers (with holdings of up to 10 acres), nearly half of the subsidy amount can be saved”. 

He adds, “It can be passed on to farmers through direct bank transfers. Each tube well-owning farmer should be made to pay for the metered supply of power, at a rate specified by the Electricity Regulatory Authority of the state for the farming sector. As a consequence, every farmer will save power by switching on the tube well only when needed”.

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