A question was raised in Parliament by an AAP MP on Monday about steps being taken by the Union Government on recharging groundwater aquifers in Punjab. The question was premised on Punjab’s share of paddy and wheat production as a contribution to the nation’s well-being. It is extraordinary that someone who represents the ruling party in Punjab should pose such a question. It is true that the Union Government has initiated schemes to recharge groundwater, but these are basically targeted at areas where a shortfall has been caused by persistent low rainfall, shortcomings in soil and vegetation types, geology and topography. Punjab’s problem is not that and can primarily be addressed by its own government and people.
First, Punjab should not be growing paddy at all. There was a time when the state was the flag-bearer of the ‘Green Revolution’ when India’s agriculture was in crisis. This revolution was boosted by incentives like free electricity for farmers, MSP, zero tax, subsidised pesticides, cheap Bihari labour, etc. However, it led to gross misuse, with farmers not caring how long the tubewell was running and how much water was being extracted. Water intensive crops like paddy, more suited to high rainfall areas like the eastern states, took up even greater acreage for what were believed to be better returns. Soon, however, the small farmers who could not afford to increase the depths of their tubewells began to fall short of water. Even those who did go deeper are now facing a crisis.
Punjab’s agriculture sector needs a radical overhaul if the already major crisis is not to become a catastrophe. It is exactly this impending situation that is forcing its youth to seek jobs in foreign lands – first it was an attraction, now it is compulsion. Unfortunately, the very people that will become victims of this failure are the ones resisting the required change. They believe that increased MSP and other facilities will save them. But how does one deal with depleting aquifers?
Punjab must shift to a radically new agriculture model and focus on a different set of crops – to begin with, millets. It must work on increasing its productivity levels, which is not anything compared to nations like Israel or China. Around the world and in India, scientists and farmers have cooperated to evolve many new agricultural models that include better crop varieties, mixed farming, natural and sustainable farming, and so on. These need to be adopted so that use of groundwater becomes sustainable. As for recharging, just capture the rain in the many ways possible – nobody needs hand-holding for that.
