PUNJAB FROM PLENTY TO SCARACITY

LOOMING DESERTIFICATION
AND
DSWC ROLE IN MITIGATING THREATS

GS DHILLON
SDSCO-Map Officer
O/o Chief Conservator of Soils, Punjab
DEPARTMENT OF SOIL AND WATER CONSERVATION, PUNJAB
Email: dswctechnical@gmail.com, Website: http://dswcpunjab.gov.in
ABOUT PUNJAB:
Area (geographical) : 5.04 m ha

Districts: 22

Net sown area: 4.2 m ha

Irrigated area: 4.07 m ha(98%)

by Canals : 1.11 m ha (27%)

by Tubewells : 2.96 m ha (73%)

Total cropped area: 7.9 m ha

Cropping intensity: 204%

Cropping Systems :
Rice-Wheat;
Cotton-Wheat; and
Maize-Wheat
 COMPARISON OF AREA
TOTAL AREA NET AREA SOWN

Punjab 1.53% Punjab 2.99%

India 98.47% India 97.01

 Punjab Agriculture-Major Characteristics

Production: Punjab Produces 18% of wheat production of India and 2.5

% of total wheat production of World

Contribution: Food grains contribution to the Central Pool :

Wheat about 25-35% (down from 50 -70 % a decade ago)

Rice about 25-30 % (down from 40 -50 % a decade ago)

Cultivated Area : 84% of the total geographical area under cultivation

(42.04 lakh hectares Out of 50.33 lakh hectares)

Fertilizer Consumption :about 184 Kg/ha as compared to 96kg/ha at

National level

Farm Power Availability : Highest in the country at 4.03 KW/ha as

compared to 1.232 KW/ha at National level (Highest No of Tractors in
India). 1/3rd of total tractors in India are in Punjab.
 FOUR DECADES OF FOODGRAIN PRODUCTION

300

283.52 280.71
250 273.28 279.28
253.24 253.13

200

192.23 198.83
150

100 119.21

73.05
50 62.82 63 64.58 65.23 65.35 65.92
56.73 57.26
48.53
39.27
0
1970-71 1980-81 1990-91 1995-96 2000-01 2006-07 2008-09 2010-11 2011-12 2012-13

AREA"OOO" HA. PRODUCTION "OOO" MT

Paddy Yields
Wheat Yields
Pulses Yields
 Punjab: Income from Farming
800
Net annual farming income in thousand Rupees
200 4000 600

0 2 4 6 8
Land Holding (in ha)
*Data from NSS SAS Round 70. Size of bubbles correspond to non farm income
 Education and Income of India-Americans by Language
140,000 Marathi
Kannada Telugu
Family Income Gujarati Tamil
Bengali
120,000
INDIA
Hindi
Malayalam
100,000
Punjabi Urdu Taiwan
Average family income, USD

Pakistan
Canada
80,000
Vietnam
Korea
China
White
Full US population
60,000
Bangladesh

Mexico
40,000
African American

20,000

0
0 10 20 30 40 50 60
Share with post- graduate or professional or doctoral degree, %
IMPENDING
CRISIS
 WATER SCARCITY
Water scarcity is defined as a situation where water
availability in a country or region is below 1000 cum per
person per year. The threshold of 2000 cum per person
per year is considered to indicate that a region is water
stressed since under these conditions populations face
very large problems when a drought occurs or when man-
made shortages are created.

Today, 31 countries face water stress or water scarcity. By

2025 population growth alone is expected to add another
17 countries to the list. Water shortages would then affect
2.8 billion people, or 35% of the world's projected
population compared with 8% today.
Global Water Scene
Water sinks Quantity (m3 ) % of total
Water in Ocean 1.2 x 1018 97.5
Water on earth 4.0 x 101 2.50
Polar Ice & Glaciers 3.0 x 1016 2.25
Fresh water 1.0 x 1016 0.50
Unusable by mankind 5.6 x 1015 0.42
Usable by mankind 4.4 x 1015 0.33
Sub Surface 4.27 x 1015 0.22
Surface 0.13 x 1015 0.11

Global Water Scene and effects

 India Share in World Resources

S.No. Resource Share (%age)

1 Land 2
2 Water 1
3 Population 16
4 Livestock 19
 Water Status in India
S.No. Component Quantity (bcm)
1 Total Precipitation 4000
2 Accessible Runoff 1869
3 Harvested 690
4 Lost to Sea 1179
bcm: Billion cubic metre

Per Capita Availability in India

S.No. Year Water per head(cum)

1 1951 5177
2 2004 1859
3 2025 1341
 World GW Depletion

Source: Aeschbach-Hertig and Gleeson, 2012

 Status of Available Water
Resource in Punjab

Surface water availability : 1.43 m ha m

Ground Water availability : 1.61 m ha m

Total Water availability : 3.04 m ha m

 IRRIGATION WATER DEMAND,
AVAILABILITY & DEFICIT IN PUNJAB

IRRIGATION WATER DEMAND : 4.40 m ha m

TOTAL IRRIGATION WATER : 3.04 m ha m

AVAILABILITY

IRRIGATION WATER DEFICIT : 1.36 m ha m

This deficit in Irrigation is met by over exploitation of Ground Water

 Water Crisis in Punjab
Drinking water problem villages

Year No of Villages

1980 3712

1990 6287

2000 8518

2015 11997

95% villages or habitations out of total 12423 in

Punjab are facing drinking water problems
 STATUS OF WATER RESOURCES
Characteristics

Area irrigated by surface water resource 9.99 Lakh ha

Area irrigated by underground water resource 30.20 lakh Ha

No. of Tubewells 14+ lakh

Area having brackish underground water resource 9.60 Lakh ha

Area facing severe water depletion 38.75 Lakh ha (77%)

Area facing extremely deep underground water 14.09 Lakh ha(28%)

 GROUNDWATER RESOURCE ASSESSMENT AND STAGE OF
DEVELOPMENT
Assessment : Carried out as per guidelines of Central Ground Water Board
(CGWB) Annual Gross Recharge, Annual Net Recharge & Annual Net Draft
are computed for District / Block
Categorization of Blocks : Dark, Grey or White on the basis of stage of
groundwater development

S. No Category Stage of Development Exploitation Level

1 Dark More than 85% Over exploited
2 Grey Between 65% & 85% Limited exploitation possible
3 White Below 65% Unlimited exploitation possible

Category of blocks as per groundwater assessment studies (141 Blocks)

Dark Grey White

(Over Exploited) Critical Semi Critical Safe
110 5 3 23
 GROUND WATER EXPLOITATION IN PUNJAB

Punjab has highest %age of blocks categorised as over exploited. Currently 110 blocks out of
total 141 blocks in the State are over exploited, 8 as critical and remaining 23 as safe, But the
irony is that in most of these safe water blocks, the ground water is brackish, thus unfit for
23
human use and irrigation, hence these blocks suffer from water logging conditions
PUNJAB WATER TABLE DEPTH
 PUNJAB -Challenges

Declining arable
Decreasing
Rising land area and Soil
quantity and
Population health
quality of water

Punjab

Technology Increasing
fatigue Mounting Pressure Cost of Cultivation
and
of Globalization
Decreasing margins
 PUNJAB HEADING FOR
DESERTIFICATION
DESERTIFICATION IS A PROCESS BY WHICH
FERTILE LAND BECOMES DESERT, TYPICALLY AS
A RESULT OF WATER STRESS, DEFORESTATION,
OR INAPPROPRIATE AGRICULTURE.

About one-fifth of the World's land in

100+ Countries is threatened with
Desertification"
 Major Causes of Desertification and Land
Degradation

Human Activity Ground Water

Overexploitation, Cutting down trees, Bad
Agricultural Practices, Over/Less-Irrigation,
Over-grazing of land by farmed animals.
Climate Change Fluctuations(Excess
Warming/Cooling) in Temperatures and
Change in Precipitation Pattern

Climatic change, is also largely attributed to human interference

like increase in CO2 and CO levels etc. Removal of vegetative
cover brings about marked changes in the local climate of the
area.
 Types of Degradation
Land degradation is categorized into three types
Physical degradation: Physical degradation refers
to deterioration in physical properties of soil
Biological degradation: Biological degradation
refers to reduction in soil organic matter, decline in
biomass carbon and decrease in activity and
diversity of soil fauna.
Chemical degradation: Chemical degradation is
basically due to the nutrient depletion.
Process
 Forest Cover in %age States

Hoshiarpur District has 37% of the total Forest Coverage of Punjab

 Climate Change Effects in Punjab
There has been a marked change in Climate of
Punjab over the years.
Rainfall activity has decreased, In kandi area
against an average of 1100 mm it has been just
600-700 mm during last few years.
Rainfall has decreased but intensity has
increased.
The temperatures are crossing 450C mark more
frequently during summers.
Winters have shrinked and summer period has
elongated.
 How will climate change affect groundwater levels ?

Trends in GW Levels b/w

1979-2000 and 2029-2050

Across a range of climate

change scenarios,
groundwater levels will
continue to decline in
Punjab.

* Groundwater levels
(GWL) inferred from
change in UGW needed to
meet irrigation water
needs

Source: Zaveri et al. (2016)

 Key Issues leading to Desertification
Over Exploitation of Water Resources: Major
reason for as non availabity of water resources
leads to Desertification.
Drought/Flooding: Extreme events such as
droughts and floods render lands unproductive.
Temperature/Rainfall: Extreme events in
temperature and rainfall changes bio-diversity.
Deforestation: Loss of Forest Cover and
Vegetation exposes the soil leading to
degradation
 Key issues- contd-
Water/Wind Erosion: Erosion washes off top fertile
layer of soil thereby affecting vegetative growth
Bad Agricultural Practices: Excessive use of
fertilizers/pesticides and over ploughing of soils
disturbs their nature and structure.
Crop Cycle: Following a continuous crop cycle over
years reduce soil fertility and effects nutrient
balance.
Over- Irrigation: Excessive Irrigation effects soil
aeration and causes erosion
 Key Issues- contd-
Industrialization/Urbanization: Industrial wastes
and excess Mining for urbanization disturbs
ecological balance
Water Logging/Salinity: Excess moisture/salinity in
soils prevents vegetative growth
Fires: Loss in vegetation, organic matter and
microbial activity in soil
Socio Economic Constraints: Population pressure,
Low technological levels, Fiscal Inabilities hamper
bio-diversity
 Land Degradation in Punjab

S.No. Soil Problem Million ha % area

1 Wind erosion 0.58 11.5

2 Water erosion 0.54 10.8

3 Water logged 0.45 9.0

4 Salt-affected 0.37 7.4

Source: Sehgal et al.

 Residue Burning- Satellite Image
Red Spots in Satellite Image taken by NASA show locations of active
burning of crop residue after harvest season. Punjab has highest
intensity of Red spots

NASA IMAGE DATED: 10.10.2016

 Effects of Desertification
Water Availability: Major cause of poverty in areas
suffering from severe desertification are due to non
availability of assured irrigation source.
Poverty and Unemployment: Loss of agricultural
activity for agriculture dependent communities
drives them to poverty;
Production: Degraded Lands causes in productivity
levels effecting food balance and incomes;
Migration: Migration from affected areas to other
areas increases population pressure;
Oscillation in Commodity prices: Scarcity of
commodity causes market fluctuations;
 Effects of Desertification

Environmental Impact: Various species can

become extinct due to loss of Bio-diversity
from a region;
Instability/Unrest: Loss of livelihood and
migration causes social unrest and clashes
among communities.
INITIATIVES

BY

DSWC
INCREASING IRRIGATION WATER EFFICIENCY
Promotion of Underground Water
Pipeline System (UGPS) UGPS
Cuts conveyance losses, saves
upto 30% water
50% subsidy is provided to
Individual farmers adopting
UGPS
90% subsidy is provided to
Individual farmers adopting
UGPS
22,000 + kms of UGPS laid till
date
PROMOTION OF DRIP/SPRINKLER IRRIGATION SYSTEMS

The Micro Irrigation System, which

includes Drip Irrigation, Micro
Sprinkler Irrigation and other
emitting devices which discharges
irrigation water at a controlled rate
and is applied directly to the root
zone of the plants.

50 to 70% saving of water in

various crops along with increase in
productivity.

80-90% Subsidy is provided to

farmers opting these systems.
Programme on Watershed Basis

Department is Project Implementing

agency of Integrated Watershed
Management Programme (IWMP) of
Rural Development Deptt.

Started in 2009-10

67 projects in 14 districts.

Shall benefit more than 3 lac hectares

Major Works: Rain Water Harvesting

and Recharging, Erosion Control, Land
levelling, Renovation of ponds,
Drainage Line Treatment, Plantation,
Retaining Walls and, Farm Production,
Livelihood Generation, Self Help
Groups.
 SOLAR POWERED COMMUNITY MICRO
IRRIGATION PROJECT TALWARA, HOSHIARPUR
Worlds Largest Standalone Solar powered Irrigation
Project.
Solar photovoltaic pumps to lift water from kandi canal
and its further conveyance to fields through UGPS;
On farm irrigation by micro irrigation system.
Project funded from under RIDF-18 and RKVY;
SPV Pumps of upto 25HP installed, one of highest
capacity SPV pumps installed in country;
The project provides irrigation to more than 750 ha area,
which was earlier devoid of any irrigation facilities.

Talwara Irrigation Project Animation

 Utilization of Treated Sewerage Water for Irrigation
Approx 2200 MLD of sewerage water is generated in
Punjab from Tier 1 & 2 cities alone
Punjab is implementing Programme Namely
Cleaning of Rivers under which treated sewerage
water is being provided for Irrigation
Punjab is leading state in treating sewerage waste
water and its utilization.
Till date 25 nos of Projects utilizing 175 MLD of
treated water and irrigating approx 7500 ha agri land
successfully commissioned
Israel virtually having no ground water is dependent
on recycling of waste and sea waters
In Israel 90-95% of sewerage water is utilized in
agriculture after treatment
 Solar Powered Irrigation Projects from
Village Water Bodies

The Project is being implemented under

Pradhan Mantri Krishi Sichayee Yogna (PMKSY)
Solar Photovoltaic Pumpsets are installed on
village ponds for lifting water.
Water is supplied to agriculture fields through
underground pipelines
Ponds are also renovated to an extent to serve
as recharging structures.
 New Initiative Planned for efficient Use
of Surface Water
Kandi Canal to be taken up in Phase-1;
All Canal Outlets to be Automated;
A Centralized Control Unit shall monitor all outlets;
Outlet opening dependent upon flow in canal;
Underground Pipeline to convey water from
Outlets to Agricultural fields;
Micro Irrigation Systems to be installed on
Agricultural fields;
Gradually all Canals in State shall be covered
Working of Canal Automation
THE FUTURE OF ALL OF US
ARE DEPENDENT UPON THE
ACTIONS AND ATTITUDES OF
PRESENT

THANKS