Tube well irrigation in Punjab. (Image source: India Water Portal Flickr photos)
Groundwater irrigation has become a major source of agricultural water in India, surpassing canal irrigation in many regions. Its reliable supply has encouraged investment in pumping and harvesting technologies, improved agricultural productivity and created opportunities for non-farm enterprises and alternative livelihoods. However, intensive groundwater use has also increased energy demand and production costs while contributing to groundwater depletion, soil degradation, loss of genetic diversity and rising greenhouse gas emissions.
These costs are particularly visible in Punjab, once celebrated as the “breadbasket of India” for its role in the Green Revolution. The state’s agricultural growth has been supported by intensive cultivation of water intensive crops, especially rice, along with subsidised electricity and assured procurement. Together, these measures have encouraged farmers to extract increasing amounts of groundwater. In several districts, water tables have reportedly fallen by nearly a metre a year.
A recent study by Anandita Sarkar, published in Regional Sustainability, examines how intensive groundwater use has shaped agricultural growth in Punjab. It traces the influence of electricity subsidies, procurement incentives and groundwater regulation on water availability and farmers’ cropping choices, showing how policies intended to strengthen food production have contributed to interconnected water, food and energy challenges.
Punjab’s agricultural transformation began with government support for the Green Revolution. High-yielding variety seeds were promoted in selected agro-climatic regions with medium to low rainfall. As one of the early beneficiaries, Punjab received support for seeds, irrigation and fertilisers, followed by free electricity for agricultural tube wells.
The introduction of high-yielding seeds increased the need for irrigation. Farmers invested in technologies that could provide reliable water supplies and help maximise yields. Public tube wells that were poorly maintained and unable to meet irrigation needs were increasingly replaced by private extraction systems. As tube well costs fell and electricity subsidies expanded, private groundwater pumping became more attractive.
Despite substantial public investment in surface water projects, private investment increasingly shaped Punjab’s irrigation system from the 1970s onwards. Tube wells offered farmers flexibility and a reliable water supply. Their importance grew further after electricity was made free for agriculture in 1997. According to the study, private tube wells produced more than twice the food grain output achieved under canal irrigation.
These changes increased grain production, but they also intensified demand for water and energy. Although Punjab performed better than the national average on indicators such as income, productivity and poverty reduction, it continued to face environmental challenges linked to uncontrolled groundwater extraction and imbalanced fertiliser use.
The shift towards groundwater irrigation has occurred across Punjab, although the pattern differs between its three main agricultural zones. In central Punjab, tube wells have dominated irrigation, with groundwater irrigated areas expanding steadily since the 1970s. Canal-irrigated areas have declined as farmers increasingly relied on private tube wells. The expansion of paddy cultivation since the 1990s, combined with electricity subsidies, strengthened this dependence. By 2020, groundwater irrigation had reached high levels, while canals and other sources played a comparatively small role.
Southern Punjab followed a different trajectory. Canal irrigation remained dominant until the mid-1990s, but subsidies for agricultural power encouraged a shift towards tube wells and from cotton to rice. Pest outbreaks and price fluctuations made cotton cultivation less attractive to farmers. Free electricity for agricultural consumers, introduced by the Punjab government in 2006, further strengthened incentives to extract groundwater. Tube well irrigation subsequently expanded before levelling off in the last decade, following a pattern similar to that in central Punjab.
Northern Punjab has steeper slopes, higher runoff and shallow soils. Irrigation was historically limited, and farming relied more heavily on rainfall. However, tube well coverage has more than doubled over the past 50 years, with major increases around 1990 and 2005 following the introduction of free electricity. Canal irrigation has stabilised, while tube well use has declined in recent years, reflecting trends seen in the other zones.
Groundwater irrigation has therefore not only surpassed canal irrigation in Punjab but has increasingly displaced it. Diesel-powered submersible pumps cost approximately US$3.61 per hour to operate, while free electricity reduces the running costs of electric pumps. Farmers still bear the capital and maintenance costs, but government procurement policies provide price security for rice. Together, these incentives have encouraged the expansion of groundwater irrigation and a shift away from traditional crops such as cotton towards water-intensive rice.
Punjab once cultivated crops such as maize, pulses and coarse grains that generally required less water than rice. Over time, however, cultivation shifted towards water intensive paddy, supported by free agricultural electricity and assured procurement.
The state’s rice yield is 4,366 kg per hectare, the highest in India, according to the supplied article. Cotton cultivation has fluctuated since 1990, partly because recurring bollworm infestations have pushed many farmers towards rice. In several districts, the area under rice even surpassed the area under wheat after 2000.
Punjab’s agricultural transformation, initially associated with the wheat revolution, has thus evolved into a rice and wheat system. Although this system has supported farm incomes and food grain production, it has also increased dependence on groundwater and energy. The resulting pressure on aquifers, together with soil degradation, raises questions about the long term sustainability of the state’s agricultural model.
Continuous groundwater extraction has dried up shallow wells in some areas, forcing farmers to replace centrifugal pumps with submersible pumps that can draw water from greater depths. Subsidised electricity, combined with rising diesel prices, has encouraged the adoption of electric tube wells. These changes have deepened groundwater dependence, widened income inequalities and reinforced existing farming practices.
The Punjab government has introduced measures to curb extraction. The Punjab Preservation of Subsoil Water Act, enacted in 2009, made it mandatory to transplant summer paddy only after 15 June. The measure helped slow groundwater decline to some extent, but the study identifies rainfall patterns as the most decisive influence on groundwater levels under the prevailing crop combinations.
Power rationing has also been introduced. During the peak rice season from June to August, farmers receive only four to six hours of electricity a day, often at irregular or inconvenient times. This appears to have limited groundwater extraction because most tube wells now use electric submersible pumps. Only a small number of large farmers continue to use diesel pumps to maximise rice yields.
Farmers have also adopted technologies to improve irrigation efficiency. Laser land levelling, which creates a more even field surface, can reduce water losses and distribute irrigation more uniformly. The article reports that this practice can reduce water use by 20 to 25 per cent.
However, water management is only one part of the challenge. Punjab has long been a major supplier of food grains for the central government’s Public Distribution System. The procurement system has provided rice and wheat farmers with assured markets and incomes. Since the introduction of decentralised procurement in 1997, other states have also supplied grain to the central pool, gradually reducing Punjab’s share of national procurement.
Farmers in Punjab sell very little of their rice and wheat harvest in the open market and depend heavily on procurement by the central pool. The minimum support price regime is therefore crucial to their livelihoods. Any future reduction in government purchases from Punjab, or the introduction of state-wise procurement quotas, could create uncertainty about how the state’s surplus grain would be marketed. This remains a significant issue for agricultural policy in Punjab.
The combination of free electricity, assured procurement and crop specific incentives has made diversification economically and institutionally difficult, even as the environmental costs of the existing system become more apparent.
Policy makers face the challenge of conserving groundwater, lowering energy consumption and reducing the fiscal burden of electricity subsidies without undermining farm incomes.
One initiative was the Pani Bachao, Paisa Kamao scheme, launched as a pilot in 2018 with World Bank support. It offered uninterrupted daytime electricity and cash compensation for electricity saved. The reported results suggested that electricity consumption could fall by 7.5 to 30 per cent without affecting crop yields.
However, the success of this approach depends on universal metering of agricultural pumps. Metering remains politically contentious, and Punjab has one of the lowest levels of metered agricultural pumps in India. Scientists have also recommended energy or water quotas combined with volumetric pricing, under which charges are linked to the quantity consumed. However, no political party has been willing to risk dismantling the popular free electricity policy.
These difficulties illustrate why reducing groundwater extraction requires more than technical changes. Farmers’ decisions are shaped by the combined effects of electricity pricing, procurement arrangements, crop returns and access to reliable irrigation.
The study argues that agricultural policies have often treated food production, water management and energy use as separate concerns. While this approach has helped increase food production, it has also transferred environmental costs to groundwater and energy resources.
A more integrated approach would consider these sectors together and apply circular economy principles to resource use. This would require changes in cropping choices, irrigation practices, public incentives and institutional coordination.
Crop diversification: Promoting millets, pulses, oilseeds, fruits and vegetables could reduce dependence on water intensive rice. Diversification could also create opportunities in food processing, exports and value-added products, potentially improving farm incomes. Crop rotation can help reduce nutrient depletion and dependence on chemicals.
Water-saving technologies: Direct Seeded Rice (DSR) can reduce water use by 15 to 20 per cent compared with traditional transplanting. Drip and sprinkler irrigation can improve water use efficiency, reduce pumping and lower energy demand. Managed Aquifer Recharge (MAR) could also help restore groundwater levels in overexploited areas.
Coordinated policymaking: Cross-departmental task forces involving the Agriculture, Power and Water Resources departments could help align policies and address the links between crop production, groundwater use and energy consumption.
Reforming subsidies: Incentives could reward efficient water use, crop diversification and conservation rather than the volume of electricity or other inputs consumed.
Technology and shared data: Common data platforms could support joint monitoring, improve transparency and strengthen accountability across sectors.
Circular economy approaches: Reusing water, recycling nutrients and incorporating climate resilience into agricultural planning could help reduce pressure on natural resources.
Farmer participation and capacity building: Training in climate-smart agriculture could help farmers assess and adopt alternative practices. Community-based groundwater monitoring, drawing on models such as MARVI and APFAMGS, could strengthen local participation. Cooperatives, app-based tools and collective bargaining could improve access to agricultural support and help farmers explore diversified crops.
Punjab’s experience shows how policies that strengthen agricultural production can also create long-term pressure on water and energy resources when these sectors are managed separately. Moving towards a more sustainable system will require coordinated reforms that account for farmers’ dependence on reliable irrigation and assured markets. Crop diversification, efficient water use, better aligned incentives and farmer participation could help reduce groundwater extraction while supporting livelihoods and food security.