ONLINE TAKE
Need to promote waterefficient
crops, talk about
water footprint
JP GUPTA
India needs to focus on
promoting water-efficient crops
and talk about ‘water footprint’
as much as ‘carbon footprint’
because the country has already
become a water-stressed nation,
Ministry of Jal Shakti Secretary UP
Singh feels.
Speaking at an event in New
Delhi, Mr Singh said the per capita
availability of water is coming down
with rise in population, and if steps
were not taken now the country
would be exporting precious water.
Stating that the time has come to
talk about water footprint as much
as carbon footprint, the Secretary
said it is because “even a cup of
coffee that we take in the morning
has water footprint of 140 litres. For
Jal Shakti
Ministry
Secretary
U P Singh
growing that much of coffee that
you take in the morning, 140 litres
of water is required.
The country cannot afford to
grow water-guzzling crops in water
stressed areas, he said. Latest data
shows that 89 per cent of water is
used for agriculture purpose in
India, where about 50 per cent of
the farm land is irrigated while it is
only 20 per cent world over.
“We have same area but other
countries produce double. They
consume 60 per cent of water, we
consume 89 per cent of water. There
is tremendous scope in improving
water-use efficiency,” Singh said.
He said farming pattern needs
to be changed according to
demography . “Punjab was not
growing paddy till early 1980s. Its
water table is not good and rainfall
is only 500-700 mm. There are areas
where we get 2,000 mm rainfall,
we should grow paddy there not in
Punjab. We should grow sugarcane
not in Maharashtra, but we are
growing,” he said.
Farmers are doing
it as there is a
policy to supply
free electricity
to them for
pumping water.
Moreover, Punjab
hardly uses drip
irrigation because
the state government
thinks it is not suitable for
paddy.
Currently, ground water
exploitation in India is 25 per cent
of the total ground water extracted
all over the world. The country
extracts more ground water than
China and the US put together.
Noting that tube wells
contributed for achieving Green
Revolution in India, the Secretary
said Ganga river canals do not
irrigate more than 25 per cent of the
farm land in Uttar Pradesh. Tube
wells irrigate 80 per cent of farm
land in the state.
In Punjab also, 77 per cent of
the farm land is irrigated from
tube wells and pumps. Tube wells
have been the solution not only for
agriculture but also for drinking
purpose.
The Secretary also talked about
the need to have water budget at
gram panchayat level and setting up
of Water Use Efficient Authority to
promote and regulate water usage.
www.smartgovernance.in | February 2020 13