IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/spr/ssefpa/v10y2018i4d10.1007_s12571-018-0823-2.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Drivers of change in groundwater resources: a case study of the Indian Punjab

Author

Listed:
  • Sukhwinder Singh

    (University of Michigan)

  • Julian Park

    (University of Reading)

Abstract

Indian Punjab, a strategically important region from India’s national food security standpoint, is increasingly the focus of attention for academics and policymakers because of serious concerns about over-exploitation of its groundwater resources. Currently, policy makers and agricultural researchers/scientists in India are in a fix to prescribe an alternative, probably more sustainable, crop-mix to farmers that can save water while maintaining farm incomes. Using primary data from 120 farmers, this paper evaluates the current situation of groundwater resources in Punjab, and outlines the major socio-economic factors that have a significant association with the change in the groundwater depth in this region. General ANOVA regression results suggest that groundwater depth varied significantly with respect to agro-climatic regions, crop diversity, and farmer education. Crop diversity had an inverse relationship with groundwater depth whereas the association between farmer education and groundwater depth was non-linear although in the case of Gurdaspur, they showed a direct relationship. In the central zone of Indian Punjab, groundwater level on 92% of the farms had depleted by more than 0.60 m annually between 2000 and 2010, while the current state of groundwater resources in the other two regions was not so serious and are manageable for the time being. However, if the existing policy framework for groundwater resources in the state, which allows the state government to release 0.11 million more connections to farmers, putting much pressure not only on the groundwater resources but also burdening the state exchequer, continues, Punjab may end up losing all its groundwater resources for ever. Considering this alarming situation, one-fifth of the farmers surveyd agreed to delay the sowing of rice by another 2 weeks i.e. up to 30 June which could save the fast depleting groundwater resources in Punjab.

Suggested Citation

  • Sukhwinder Singh & Julian Park, 2018. "Drivers of change in groundwater resources: a case study of the Indian Punjab," Food Security: The Science, Sociology and Economics of Food Production and Access to Food, Springer;The International Society for Plant Pathology, vol. 10(4), pages 965-979, August.
    • Handle: RePEc:spr:ssefpa:v:10:y:2018:i:4:d:10.1007_s12571-018-0823-2
    DOI: 10.1007/s12571-018-0823-2
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://link.springer.com/10.1007/s12571-018-0823-2
    File Function: Abstract
    Download Restriction: Access to the full text of the articles in this series is restricted.
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1007/s12571-018-0823-2?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Singh, Karam, 2009. "Act to Save Groundwater in Punjab: Its Impact on Water Table, Electricity Subsidy and Environment," Agricultural Economics Research Review, Agricultural Economics Research Association (India), vol. 22(Conferenc).
    2. Sukhpal Singh, 2016. "Rethinking Diversification of Agriculture in the Indian Punjab: An Examination of Strategy and Mechanisms," India Studies in Business and Economics, in: Lakhwinder Singh & Nirvikar Singh (ed.), Economic Transformation of a Developing Economy, edition 1, chapter 0, pages 77-96, Springer.
    3. Singh, Karam, 2011. "Groundwater Depletion in Punjab: Measurement and Countering Strategies," Indian Journal of Agricultural Economics, Indian Society of Agricultural Economics, vol. 66(4), pages 1-17.
    4. K, Sudarkodi & K, Sathyabama, 2011. "The Impact Of Climate Change On Agriculture," MPRA Paper 29784, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    5. Sidhu, R.S. & Vatta, Kamal & Dhaliwal, H.S., 2010. "Conservation Agriculture in Punjab - Economic Implications of Technologies and Practices," Indian Journal of Agricultural Economics, Indian Society of Agricultural Economics, vol. 65(3), pages 1-15.
    6. Lakhwinder Singh & Nirvikar Singh (ed.), 2016. "Economic Transformation of a Developing Economy," India Studies in Business and Economics, Springer, edition 1, number 978-981-10-0197-0, December.
    7. Sidhu, R.S. & Vatta, Kamal & Lall, Upmanu, 2011. "Climate Change Impact and Management Strategies for Sustainable Water-Energy-Agriculture Outcomes in Punjab," Indian Journal of Agricultural Economics, Indian Society of Agricultural Economics, vol. 66(3), pages 1-12.
    8. Matthew Rodell & Isabella Velicogna & James S. Famiglietti, 2009. "Satellite-based estimates of groundwater depletion in India," Nature, Nature, vol. 460(7258), pages 999-1002, August.
    9. Srivastava, S.K. & Chand, Ramesh & Raju, S.S. & Jain, Rajni & I., Kingsly & Sachdeva, Jatinder & Singh, Jaspal & Kaur, Amrit Pal, 2015. "Unsustainable Groundwater Use in Punjab Agriculture: Insights from Cost of Cultivation Survey," Indian Journal of Agricultural Economics, Indian Society of Agricultural Economics, vol. 70(3), pages 1-14.
    10. Singh, Karam, 2012. "Electricity Subsidy in Punjab Agriculture: Extent and Impact," Indian Journal of Agricultural Economics, Indian Society of Agricultural Economics, vol. 67(4), pages 1-16.
    11. de Fraiture, Charlotte & Giordano, Meredith, 2014. "Small private irrigation: A thriving but overlooked sector," Agricultural Water Management, Elsevier, vol. 131(C), pages 167-174.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Sukhwinder Singh & Nikhil Srinivasapura Venkateshmurthy & Kerry Ann Brown & Avinav Prasad Maddury & Rajesh Khatkar & Prashant Jarhyan & Dorairaj Prabhakaran & Sailesh Mohan, 2023. "Agricultural and Socioeconomic Factors Associated with Farmer Household Dietary Diversity in India: A Comparative Study of Visakhapatnam and Sonipat," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(4), pages 1-17, February.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Kishore, Prabhat & Roy, Devesh & Birthal, Pratap S. & Srivastava, Shivendra Kumar, 2024. "Regulation and Policy Response to Groundwater Preservation in India," Policy Papers 345044, ICAR National Institute of Agricultural Economics and Policy Research (NIAP).
    2. Sahil Bhatia & S. P. Singh, 2023. "Can an Incentivized Command-and-Control Approach Improve Groundwater Management? An Analysis of Indian Punjab," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(22), pages 1-27, November.
    3. Shaheen, Farhet & Shah, Farhed A., 2017. "Climate Change, Economic Growth, and Cooperative Management of Indus River Basin," 2017 Annual Meeting, July 30-August 1, Chicago, Illinois 258350, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association.
    4. Amarasinghe, Upali A. & Smakhtin, Vladimir U. & Sharma, Bharat R. & Eriyagama, Nishadi, 2010. "Bailout with white revolution or sink deeper?: groundwater depletion and impacts in the Moga District of Punjab, India," IWMI Research Reports 108672, International Water Management Institute.
    5. Yogita Sharma & Baljinder Kaur Sidana & Sunny Kumar & Samanpreet Kaur & Milkho Kaur Sekhon & Amrit Kaur Mahal & Sushant Mehan, 2023. "Pre and Post Water Level Behaviour in Punjab: Impact Analysis with DiD Approach," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(3), pages 1-18, January.
    6. Hasanov, Fakhri J. & Shannak, Sa'd, 2020. "Electricity incentives for agriculture in Saudi Arabia. Is that relevant to remove them?," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 144(C).
    7. Satyendra Kumar & Bhaskar Narjary & Vivekanand & Adlul Islam & R. K. Yadav & S. K. Kamra, 2022. "Modeling climate change impact on groundwater and adaptation strategies for its sustainable management in the Karnal district of Northwest India," Climatic Change, Springer, vol. 173(1), pages 1-30, July.
    8. Singh, Karam, 2011. "Groundwater Depletion in Punjab: Measurement and Countering Strategies," Indian Journal of Agricultural Economics, Indian Society of Agricultural Economics, vol. 66(4), pages 1-17.
    9. Samanpreet Kaur & Rajan Aggarwal & S Jalota & Bharat Vashisht & Prit Lubana, 2014. "Estimation of Groundwater Balance Using Soil-Water-Vegetation Model and GIS," Water Resources Management: An International Journal, Published for the European Water Resources Association (EWRA), Springer;European Water Resources Association (EWRA), vol. 28(12), pages 4359-4371, September.
    10. Sidhu, Balsher Singh & Kandlikar, Milind & Ramankutty, Navin, 2020. "Power tariffs for groundwater irrigation in India: A comparative analysis of the environmental, equity, and economic tradeoffs," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 128(C).
    11. Sahil Bhatia & S. P. Singh, 2024. "Assessing Groundwater Use Efficiency and Productivity across Punjab Agriculture: District and Farm Size Perspectives," Agriculture, MDPI, vol. 14(8), pages 1-24, August.
    12. P. K. Viswanathan & K. Kavya & Chandra Sekhar Bahinipati, 2020. "Global Patterns of Climate-resilient Agriculture: A Review of Studies and Imperatives for Empirical Research in India," Review of Development and Change, , vol. 25(2), pages 169-192, December.
    13. Priyanka Singh & Mini Goyal & Bishwa Bhaskar Choudhary, 2022. "How sustainable is food system in India? mapping evidence from the state of Punjab," Environment, Development and Sustainability: A Multidisciplinary Approach to the Theory and Practice of Sustainable Development, Springer, vol. 24(12), pages 14348-14374, December.
    14. Pavneet Kaur & Naresh Singla & Sukhpal Singh, 2021. "Role of Contract Farming in Crop Diversification and Employment Generation: Empirical Evidence from Indian Punjab," Millennial Asia, , vol. 12(3), pages 350-366, December.
    15. Downing, Andrea S. & Kumar, Manish & Andersson, August & Causevic, Amar & Gustafsson, Örjan & Joshi, Niraj U. & Krishnamurthy, Chandra Kiran B. & Scholtens, Bert & Crona, Beatrice, 2022. "Unlocking the unsustainable rice-wheat system of Indian Punjab: Assessing alternatives to crop-residue burning from a systems perspective," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 195(C).
    16. Masoud Bijani & Dariush Hayati & Hossein Azadi & Vjekoslav Tanaskovik & Frank Witlox, 2020. "Causes and Consequences of the Conflict among Agricultural Water Beneficiaries in Iran," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(16), pages 1-22, August.
    17. Melissa Dell & Benjamin F. Jones & Benjamin A. Olken, 2014. "What Do We Learn from the Weather? The New Climate-Economy Literature," Journal of Economic Literature, American Economic Association, vol. 52(3), pages 740-798, September.
    18. Disha Gupta, 2023. "Free power, irrigation, and groundwater depletion: Impact of farm electricity policy of Punjab, India," Agricultural Economics, International Association of Agricultural Economists, vol. 54(4), pages 515-541, July.
    19. Kaur, Rajbir & Arora, VK, 2019. "Deep tillage and residue mulch effects on productivity and water and nitrogen economy of spring maize in north-west India," Agricultural Water Management, Elsevier, vol. 213(C), pages 724-731.
    20. Meena, Raj Pal & Karnam, Venkatesh & R, Sendhil & Rinki, & Sharma, R.K. & Tripathi, S.C. & Singh, Gyanendra Pratap, 2019. "Identification of water use efficient wheat genotypes with high yield for regions of depleting water resources in India," Agricultural Water Management, Elsevier, vol. 223(C), pages 1-1.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:spr:ssefpa:v:10:y:2018:i:4:d:10.1007_s12571-018-0823-2. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Sonal Shukla or Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.springer.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.