Punjab grappling with shrinking water supply: Experts

Minna Zutshi

Tribune News Service

Ludhiana, July 5

Agriculture consumes 86 per cent of Punjab’s water. According to agricultural experts, shrinking water supply is a major challenge for the state. Water table has gone down from 20 feet in 1970 to more than 200 feet in 2017.

This was stated by Dr Manjit S Kang, Adjunct Professor, Kansas State University, Manhattan, US, and former Vice-Chancellor of the PAU, who was here to attend an international workshop on ‘Innovations in Sustainable Water Resource Management’at CT University.

He said the WORLDCLIM- DIVA system prediction for Ludhiana/Punjab says there will be more than 2.5 C change in the average temperature in Punjab between 2000 and 2050. The average annual rainfall will decrease by 75 mm to 100 mm (11 per cent).

“Agricultural sustainability depends on the sustainability of water resources,” he said.

He said climate change impacted the sustainability of water resources. Droughts, heavy rains, unseasonal rains and floods were on the rise due to climate change.

“Climate change modifies rainfall, evaporation, run-off and soil moisture storage. Increased temperature causes increase in crop water requirements and lead to rapid plant growth, resulting in a significant reduction in plant biomass and yield,” he said.

Experts said irrigation water in northwestern India was becoming scarce and many resource-conserving technologies were recommended to conserve irrigation water. The technologies included zero tillage in wheat, bed planting in rice and wheat and direct-seeded rice.

They say if surface storage of rainwater in dugout ponds is encouraged, dependence on withdrawing groundwater may decrease.

Other recommendations of experts included situ water harvesting, conjunctive use of surface water and ground water. Wetlands must be preserved as they can store three to five times more carbon than forest trees.

Dr Ramesh Kanwar, Charles F Curtiss, Distinguished Professor, Lowa State University, US, and Vice-Chancellor of Lovely Professional University, said there was a need to think if rice was a good crop for Punjab, which was grappling with decline in water supply.

“Paddy straw is not good for animal feed because of its silica content. It is also not a good biomaterial for biofeed. However, paddy straw can be mulched into soil,” they maintained.