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 • Foodgrain productivity directly proportional to groundwater |
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BHUBANESWAR: Exploitation of groundwater has been a raging issue in Orissa lately though the State utilises barely about 14 per cent. Now does it augur well for its resources and future generation or is it too little given the requirements of a largely agrarian economy? A latest study shows that increased groundwater utilisation seems to have a correlation to the level of food security for a state like Orissa.
Taking into account the groundwater utilisation and agriculture production patterns, the study establishes that states with high utilisation level have been able to contribute to the overall food security scenario.
The study brackets states into three categories as per groundwater development and utilisation level and comes up with interesting findings. Three states such as Haryana, Punjab and Rajasthan, where groundwater utilisation is over 100 per cent, along with Uttar Pradesh (99 per cent utilsation level) contribute a whopping 97 per cent wheat and 51 per cent rice to the Central pool every year contributing significantly to the food security of the country.
``These states which have more than onethird net sown area under foodgrain production also enjoy the highest productivity of 2.6 tonne per hectare, and interestingly, they also produce 44 per cent of the foodgrains in India,’’ it revealed.
With a net sown area of 70 per cent, the four states get 68 per cent of their irrigation from groundwater schemes.
Similarly, seven other states which are bracketed in the second group given their utilsation level of 45 per cent to 85 per cent have managed to provide a decent level of household food security. The states include Andhra Pradesh, Gujarat, Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu and Uttarakhand.
The seven states have 39 per cent of their net sown area under the foodgrain production but jointly produce only 32 per cent of foodgrains in India. The lower contribution as compared to Haryana, Punjab, Rajasthan and UP makes it evident that these states have a lower productivity - 1.6 tonne per hectare since only 22 per cent area is irrigated by groundwater schemes.
On the other hand, Orissa, Assam, Bihar, Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand and West Bengal which have an even lower groundwater utilisation rate (18 per cent to 42 per cent) manage a productivity of just about 1.5 tonne per hectare.
These states where only 23 per cent net sown area is under foodgrains production contribute just about 22 per cent foodgrains with only 10 per cent area covered by groundwater schemes. The reasons, according to KD Sharma of National Rainfed Area Authority who conducted the study, could be in the fact that small and marginal farmers are unable to afford the groundwater schemes like tube wells because of their poor economic status. Besides, the practice of water marketing is also prevalent in the eastern states including Orissa as big farmers have massive land holdings and enjoy a monopoly on groundwater.
``India’s future food security will only be ensured through a second green revolution in the high productivity potential states where the utilisation and development are low,’’ the study paper which was published in `Current Science’ said.
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