Agricultural Resource Depletion and Arising Concerns of Environmental Ethics in Punjab: A Dire Need of Rescue, Revival and Sustainable Development

Agriculture has been the back bone of the Indian economy since time immemorial. Western Indian states have been the pioneers in supplying food grains to the entire nation. It was after the introduction of high yielding varieties of wheat and rice during late 1960s, coupled with a progressive and a productive policy of progressive farming that put the agricultural economy of the State on the path of constant growth, popularly known as the Green revolution. Consolidation of holdings, development of irrigation, high capital investment, improved infrastructure and strong institutional reforms provided a very conducive environment for the success of green revolution and its immediate implications within the state. Green revolution not only enabled the state to remain on a high growth trajectory but also led to increase in the real income of the farmers. This technology intensive strategy resulted into the transformation of agriculture and rural economy in the state and converted Punjab

Wheat 18% (over 16 Million Tonnes) Rice 11% (over 10.8 Million Tonnes) Milk 7.5% (over 9.5 Million Tonnes) Cotton 10% (over 1.7 Million Bales) Kinnows and Oranges 75% (over 0.95 Million Tonnes) Mushroom 45% (over 70,000 Tonnes) Honey 26% (over 14,000 Tonnes) Source: Department of Agriculture, Punjab, 2013-14

Agriculture still continues to be an important sector of the state‟s economy in terms of employment and contributes about 22% of the Gross State Domestic Product (2010-11). As per the agricultural statistics, the State has about 4.2 million hectares of cultivable area, which is 3% of the net area within the country. It produces about 19% of India‟s wheat and 11% of rice from 12.4% and 6.7% of the total area under which wheat and rice are grown respectively in the country. Punjab has been a major contributor of food grains over the last four decades contributing 25-50% of rice and 38-75% of wheat to the central pool of food grains (Kumar and Vipin, 2015). Cotton is another important crop of the state which is grown over 5.2 lakh hectares (2011-12) and constitutes about 5% of the total cotton area, and 9% of the total cotton production in the country. Lately, some disturbing trends have emerged in the agriculture sector of the state. The over dependence on wheat and rice and intensive use of farm land with more than 200% cropping intensity have led to a crisis in terms of over exploitation of natural resources viz. Soil and ground water. But people have been highly ignorant, insensitive, and indifferent towards these problems. Whenever a new system is introduced in a society, the people of that society, along with the responsibility of utilising it, have the additional and latent responsibility of adapting to it, leaving old customs and practices. This responsibility increases when that new system, to be adopted, is technology oriented. In such circumstances, people to whom the system is being introduced to need to be given proper guidance and education and training, as to how should they utilise, how not to misuse and how should they control the repercussions that come along, that leads to a holistic development. This was not taken into account while implementing the technical Green Revolution that required awareness, information, skill and education. Farmers needed to be extensively educated and guided, as to how should they utilise the technology of HYV seeds, how should they control the use of pesticides and fertilizers so as not to harm the soil, water, environment and their health, how to judiciously use resources etc. Thus, resultantly, the advantages of Green Revolution were immediate and short lived and for each economic advantage that came, a parallel While productivity increased, the quality of soil depleted due to excessive use of fertilizers and heterogeneity in crop production. Farmers only grew wheat and rice, for they were commercial. Other crops were ignored, and soil depleted further. Requirement of water increased twofold immediately, then to manifold subsequently, which lead to severe exploitation of natural water resources, large scale borings and big pump sets found their places in every farmer‟s field rather than utilizing the canal water. While the quantity of production increased, so did the cost of inputs, leading to low profits. Basically, an added short term advantage brought along many long term problems associated with it. While the advantages died quickly, the problems stayed and got multiplied into more complexities. This has been further explained in the article, later.

Punjab is situated in the northwest India. The Indian state borders the Pakistani province of Punjab to the west, Jammu and Kashmir to the north, Himachal Pradesh to the northeast, Chandigarh to the east, Haryana to the south and southeast and Rajasthan to the southwest. The total area of the state is 50,362 square kilometres. The population is 2, 7704,236 (Census, 2011). Punjab's capital is Chandigarh, which is administered separately as a Union Territory since it is also the capital of neighbouring Haryana. Other major cities of Punjab include Mohali, Ludhiana, Amritsar, Patiala and Jalandhar.

The major objectives of this paper are as follows:

• To analyse the present agricultural practices in Punjab and its associated major problems

• To outline the effects of green revolution in Punjab and do the in-depth study of their severity.

• To provide suggestive measures and adaptive strategies for sustainable agriculture

• To suggest a way out from the existing approach of farming to ecological and economic farm practices which is sustainable and durable.

Net sown area: 4158 Thousand Hectare ( 83% of TGA) Gross Cropped area: 7882 Thousand Hectare Average farm size: 3.76 Hectare Major Crops: Paddy, Wheat, Maize, Cotton & Sugarcane Area under Paddy-wheat 77% of cropped area

SDP of state: Contribution to Central Pool Wheat Paddy

38.7 % (10.96 MT) 22.1% ( 7.73 MT)

Average yield : Wheat Paddy Cotton 3998 kg/ha 4716 kg./ha (Highest in India) 575 kg/ha Irrigated Area : Surface water: Ground water: 98% (Highest in India) 27% 73% Ground water development : 170% ( as on March, 2009) Fertilizer Consumption : 239 kg/hectare ( Highest in India) Pesticide Consumption : 923g/ha (Highest in India) Farm power availability : 2.6 kw/ha ( Highest in India) Farm mechanization 11% ( 4,76,835) tractors of the country One tractor for every 9 ha of net cultivated land of as compare to National Average of 62 ha

Source: Deptt. of Agriculture, Punjab, 2013-14& Statistical Abstract of Punjab, 2013

The study is based on a secondary data analysis of agricultural data of the last four decades. Various government reports have been referred for the analysis of agricultural status in Punjab and its associated issues. Data pertaining to production trends was obtained from the department of agriculture, Punjab. The status of land and its degradation, quality issues data were obtained from the soil survey division of the Department of agriculture.

Zone A (Sub-mountainous region), known as the Kandi region, has an undulating topography comprising about 17 percent of the total area of the state. This zone has particularly abundant rainfall that averages approximately up to more than 1,100 mm per annum. The cropping pattern of the area is more diverse than other zones and comprises crops like wheat, rice, basmati rice, maize, oilseeds, fruits, and vegetables. region is about 760 mm. It is highly productive and has a tight-knit system of irrigation; mainly through the use of tube-wells. The main cropping system in Zone II is the rice-wheat rotation. The water table in this region has been falling at an alarming average rate of 0.94 meters per year since 2004-07. The steep falling ground water is due to the massive increase in the number of tube wells from 192,000 in 1970-71 to 1,276,200 in 2008-09, that has in exorable been fuelled by power subsidies. The falling water table and declining soil fertility threat en the sustainability of the production capacity of this region. Zone C, the south-western region popularly known as the cotton belt, comprises almost 36 percent of the cultivated area of the state. This region is endowed with deep and brackish ground water and sandy soil. It is much drier than the other two zones. The average annual rainfall of this region is 360mm. Over the last decade, there has been a fall in the area under cotton that is due to a steady decline in its productivity. At the same time, the increase in area under rice has increased salt accumulation on the soil surface due to the continuous use of underground water which is brackish and has led to water logging of the soil.

(Source: Department of Agriculture, Government of Punjab)

The various provinces of all the three zone scan be seen in the following table:

ZoneI (sub- mountainous region) Guradaspur, Hoshiarpur, Nawar Shahar, Rupnagar, Mohali Ludhiana, Fatehgarh Sahib, Patiala, Moga, Sangrur, Barnala ZoneIII(south-western region) Firozpur, Faridkot, Muktsar, Bathinda,Mansa

Source: Sidhu and Vatta, 2014

Year Nitrogen N Phosphorus P Potash K Total Consumption (kg/ha) 1960-61 5 … … 5 …

1970-71 175 31 7 213 37.50 1980-81 526 207 29 762 112.50 1990-91 877 328 15 1220 162.60 1995-96 1020 227 16 1263 166.31 2000-01 1008 282 23 1313 168.33 2005-06 1255 369 63 1687 214 2006-07 1299 354 38 1691 215 2007-08 1317 341 37 1695 213 2008-09 1332 379 55 1766 223 2009-10 1348 383 56 1787 226 2010-11 1403 435 73 1911 243 2011-12 1416 449 53 1918 243 2012-13* 1436 416 33 1885 239 2013-14** 1425 469 83 1977 251

Nutrient (000‟ Tonnes) (Source: Department of Agriculture, Government of Punjab)

During and even after the green revolution died, for that matter, it has been noted that there is still, an unevenness of sorts, in the distribution and production of different High Yielding varieties of Seeds that were introduced. Out of them, five crops namely wheat, rice, maize, Jowar and Bajra have been selected under the study and only they have shown positive only, often branding the revolution as wheat-rice revolution.

It is a well-known fact that every positive thing brings about some negativity along with itself. There is no doubt in the fact that green revolution brought about a great transformation with North Indian states along with Punjab, but it also brought about interregional disparities because of variations in the availability of irrigation facilities, difference in the suitability of different regions for production of wheat and paddy, further stimulated by the structural and physical differences of various regions. In general, big farmers benefitted the most as they could afford and implement the new technology. Farmers with large land holdings benefitted more as they had the capacity to invest. So this resulted in a huge gap in the productivity of large and small farmer‟s income. As pointed out in Kumar and Vipin, in 2015, another factor responsible for the widening of such disparities was the practice of reverse leasing (i.e. larger farmers leasing inland, from small farmers) as well as the fall in the area lease doubt by the large farmers to small farmers, after the advent of green revolution. The rising number of suicides in Punjab directly exposes the extremity of rural insecurity, environmentally and economically, bringing out the un- sustainability in Punjab's agriculture. The number off armours who committed suicide in just two districts 2990-1256 in Bathinda and 1634 in Sangrur District- between 2000 and 2008.

Apart from creating economic divide, green revolution also brought social tensions as these new technologies have created a class of farmers who have resources and opportunities to prosper and who have prospered. While on the other hand, poor and small farmers could not live up to the pace and have lagged, becoming stagnant. There is now a very conspicuous difference in the economic status of the two groups of farmers. This has led to a social polarisation in the rural areas and thus, growing tensions.

As popularly known to all new agricultural techniques, technology could be applied only in big farms and big land holdings and is responsible for low profitability of agriculture. But the experiences from the world show a different trend. In order to succeed with farmers with small land holdings, government should assist them to buy land through the provision of institutional credit, on a long term basis, at a low rate of interest and by reducing stamp duty. Also they should be facilitated to

interference by the owner. There are some emerging land issues such as increase in demand for land for non-agricultural purposes, including the setting up of special economic zones, displacement of farmers, tribes and others due to development projects. Apart from these, there is a quality issue which Punjab has been battling for long, now. Post implementation of Green revolution, Punjab saw an indiscriminate use of chemical fertilizers and pesticides which have deteriorated the soil quality. The pH value has altered to such an extent that CRI crops grown in those soils are turning out to be dangerous as chemicals are entering the food chains, contaminating food. So there is a very serious issue which should be taken care at the earliest, before it is too late. Effective policy and planning changes need to be brought about to bring in the desired changes. Also, there is a need for careful acquisition during the conversion of land to non-agricultural land.

Water is the leading input in agriculture. Development of irrigation and water management systems, is crucial for raising living standards in rural areas. Major areas of concern in irrigation are: decline in real investment, constricted spread of investment, low recovery of costs, decline in water table, wastages and in efficiencies in water use and non- involvement of users. Both investment and efficiency in irrigation systems are needed. Major areas of reforms needed in irrigation are: stepping up and prioritizing public investment, raising profitability of groundwater exploitation and augmenting ground water resources, rational pricing of irrigation water and electricity, involvement of user farmers in the management of irrigation systems and, making ground water markets equitable. In a recent study, new watershed guidelines based on Parthasarathy Committees recommendations were accepted by the Central Cabinet in March 2009. The implementation has to be developed, in order to obtain benefits in rain fed areas. National Rain fed Area Authority has a big responsibility in matters relating to water conservation and watershed development. Assets created under NREGS can help in improving land and water management.

Canals Tubwells Other Source Total Irrigated Area 70-71 1291 1592 5 2888 1980-81 1430 1939 13 3382 1990-91 1669 2233 7 3909 2000-01 962 3074 2 4038 2010-11 1116 2915 - 4074 Source: Statistical Abstract of Punjab, 2012

green revolution in India and making India self–sufficient in Food and its security. But, having said that, the state where green revolution took place in 1960‟s also witnessed the adverse conditions of the farmers and their suicides evidentializing the extent to which the revolution brought misery for them rather than happiness. The recent trend in agriculture in the state highlights the need to bring about some conventional as well as non-conventional changes in the pattern. Reports suggest large scale degradation in soil quality and ground water resources have been witnessed. These existing problems coupled with changing climatic patterns could adversely affect the production system of the state and food security issue in the long term. Although majority of the state is irrigated but deteriorating the quantity and quality of soil and water, could further aggravate the problems. Agriculture in Punjab is in threat due to couple of problems like rapid fall in groundwater due to decline in rainfall, unfavourable changes in temperature during critical periods of growth of wheat, and increasing incidences of insect-pest attacks on the cotton crop due to rise in humidity caused by continuous flooding of paddy fields. Also the production and marketing risk for vegetable crops as well as fruits tend to be high due to lack of institutional support. This would discourage the farmers for large scale adoption of crops resulting into a decline in the extent of crop diversification. Thus, there is a need for a much deeper investigation of crop yields and such man made conventional problems of degrading soil and water conditions and other climatic factors. The locals and the policy makers should look to take some serious action in order to protect agriculture in Punjab and make it sustainable. Initiatives like crop insurance mechanism for crops like cotton, fruits and vegetables, would help in crop diversification without any risk from the farmers end. There should be efforts to promote initiatives like soil health check, check in the use of fertilizers and other chemicals. Farmers should be made aware about the ill effect of the present pattern and future implications. They should be made aware about land and fertilizer ratios, promote dry farming. Loans should be available to the farmers at very low interest rates so as they come forward for investment in agricultural sector. Having said all that, as been stated earlier, abolition of old practices for the adoption of new systems is a complex process. The uneducated and hardly aware farmers require institutionalised support from NGOs working in this direction, as well as the government. That is to say, that a transformation from technological and commercially oriented ways of farming to more organic, natural and economic ways of farming, has to be essentially a gradual and understood change, so can help uneducated and unaware farmers. This will ensure that the development that happens is not biased and centred, but reaches everyone equally.

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Research Scholar, University of Delhi E-Mail – gunjan.dse@gmail.com