Deprecated (16384): The ArrayAccess methods will be removed in 4.0.0.Use getParam(), getData() and getQuery() instead. - /home/brlfuser/public_html/src/Controller/ArtileDetailController.php, line: 73
 You can disable deprecation warnings by setting `Error.errorLevel` to `E_ALL & ~E_USER_DEPRECATED` in your config/app.php. [CORE/src/Core/functions.php, line 311]
Code Context


        trigger_error($message, E_USER_DEPRECATED);

    }
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 You can disable deprecation warnings by setting `Error.errorLevel` to `E_ALL & ~E_USER_DEPRECATED` in your config/app.php.'
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deprecationWarning - CORE/src/Core/functions.php, line 311
Cake\Http\ServerRequest::offsetGet() - CORE/src/Http/ServerRequest.php, line 2421
App\Controller\ArtileDetailController::printArticle() - APP/Controller/ArtileDetailController.php, line 73
Cake\Controller\Controller::invokeAction() - CORE/src/Controller/Controller.php, line 610
Cake\Http\ActionDispatcher::_invoke() - CORE/src/Http/ActionDispatcher.php, line 120
Cake\Http\ActionDispatcher::dispatch() - CORE/src/Http/ActionDispatcher.php, line 94
Cake\Http\BaseApplication::__invoke() - CORE/src/Http/BaseApplication.php, line 235
Cake\Http\Runner::__invoke() - CORE/src/Http/Runner.php, line 65
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Cake\Http\Runner::__invoke() - CORE/src/Http/Runner.php, line 65
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Cake\Http\Runner::__invoke() - CORE/src/Http/Runner.php, line 65
Cake\Error\Middleware\ErrorHandlerMiddleware::__invoke() - CORE/src/Error/Middleware/ErrorHandlerMiddleware.php, line 96
Cake\Http\Runner::__invoke() - CORE/src/Http/Runner.php, line 65
Cake\Http\Runner::run() - CORE/src/Http/Runner.php, line 51
Cake\Http\Server::run() - CORE/src/Http/Server.php, line 98

Deprecated (16384): The ArrayAccess methods will be removed in 4.0.0.Use getParam(), getData() and getQuery() instead. - /home/brlfuser/public_html/src/Controller/ArtileDetailController.php, line: 74
 You can disable deprecation warnings by setting `Error.errorLevel` to `E_ALL & ~E_USER_DEPRECATED` in your config/app.php. [CORE/src/Core/functions.php, line 311]
Code Context


        trigger_error($message, E_USER_DEPRECATED);

    }
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 You can disable deprecation warnings by setting `Error.errorLevel` to `E_ALL & ~E_USER_DEPRECATED` in your config/app.php.'
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deprecationWarning - CORE/src/Core/functions.php, line 311
Cake\Http\ServerRequest::offsetGet() - CORE/src/Http/ServerRequest.php, line 2421
App\Controller\ArtileDetailController::printArticle() - APP/Controller/ArtileDetailController.php, line 74
Cake\Controller\Controller::invokeAction() - CORE/src/Controller/Controller.php, line 610
Cake\Http\ActionDispatcher::_invoke() - CORE/src/Http/ActionDispatcher.php, line 120
Cake\Http\ActionDispatcher::dispatch() - CORE/src/Http/ActionDispatcher.php, line 94
Cake\Http\BaseApplication::__invoke() - CORE/src/Http/BaseApplication.php, line 235
Cake\Http\Runner::__invoke() - CORE/src/Http/Runner.php, line 65
Cake\Routing\Middleware\RoutingMiddleware::__invoke() - CORE/src/Routing/Middleware/RoutingMiddleware.php, line 162
Cake\Http\Runner::__invoke() - CORE/src/Http/Runner.php, line 65
Cake\Routing\Middleware\AssetMiddleware::__invoke() - CORE/src/Routing/Middleware/AssetMiddleware.php, line 88
Cake\Http\Runner::__invoke() - CORE/src/Http/Runner.php, line 65
Cake\Error\Middleware\ErrorHandlerMiddleware::__invoke() - CORE/src/Error/Middleware/ErrorHandlerMiddleware.php, line 96
Cake\Http\Runner::__invoke() - CORE/src/Http/Runner.php, line 65
Cake\Http\Runner::run() - CORE/src/Http/Runner.php, line 51
Cake\Http\Server::run() - CORE/src/Http/Server.php, line 98

Warning (512): Unable to emit headers. Headers sent in file=/home/brlfuser/public_html/vendor/cakephp/cakephp/src/Error/Debugger.php line=853 [CORE/src/Http/ResponseEmitter.php, line 48]
Code Context
            if (Configure::read('debug')) {

                trigger_error($message, E_USER_WARNING);

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-Firstpost.com&lt;br /&gt;
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&lt;em&gt;Chandigarh: &lt;/em&gt;Two years ago, Charan Singh&#039;s tubewell ran dry just before the paddy-sowing season could start. The rice farmer, who cultivates four acres of land in the Mansa district of Punjab, had been pumping water from 45 feet below the surface. Now he had to dig another, deeper well.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
Like Charan Singh, 36, thousands of farmers across Punjab are astonished at the speed at which groundwater, their principal source of water for irrigation, is running out. Tubewells, operated with electric water pumps, are being dug ever deeper in search of a secure source of water. The cost of digging a borewell could be anything from Rs 75,000 to over Rs 1.50 lakh.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
Farmers in Punjab had traditionally followed a corn-wheat or sugarcane-corn-wheat cropping pattern. But during the Green Revolution in the 1960s, they shifted to a wheat-rice pattern, which led to an increased demand for irrigation water. The indiscriminate use of groundwater for the water-guzzling paddy crop is the principal reason precious groundwater ran dry, say experts.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
Anoop Nagar, director of the Central Ground Water Board&#039;s (CGWB) northwest region, says there are areas in Punjab where water is depleting at the rate of four metres per year. &amp;quot;The rate of depletion is different in different parts of the state. While it&#039;s four metres per year in some areas, it could be two metres in other areas. But the decline is rapid everywhere and we need to check it urgently,&amp;quot; he said.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
Punjab has a land area of 50,362 sq.km, which constitutes 1.57 percent of the country&#039;s total area. Yet, the state contributes over half the grain procured by the central government each year. About 84 percent of the state&#039;s geographical area is farmed. Punjab&#039;s over-dependence on agriculture is down to its geography and topography; it straddles the Indus river basin and is drained by three major rivers &amp;mdash; the Ravi, Beas and Sutlej, apart from other streams, including the Ghaggar, which drain the southern parts of the state.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
According to the Commission for Agriculture Costs and Prices, Punjab requires 5,337 litres of water to grow one kilogram of paddy, double of what&#039;s required in West Bengal (2,605 litres), a natural habitat of the crop. As PR Reddy, a former scientist with the National Geophysical Research Institute (NGRI), observed, &amp;quot;Neither a native plant nor suited to the agro-climatic region, paddy has pushed out maize and cotton, which were common in the pre-Green Revolution era. From 2.27 lakh hectares in 1960, the area under paddy rose to 26.12 lakh hectares by the year 2000; a growth rate of 1,050 percent.&amp;quot;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
The area under paddy cultivation had increased to 30.46 lakh hectares in 2016-17.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
Free electricity provided to farmers by the state government contributes in no small measure to the problem. Moreover, farmers say there has been little or no effort or encouragement by the state government to get them to look beyond the wheat and paddy cycle.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
Senior journalist PPS Gill agreed that Punjab was never suited to growing paddy. &amp;quot;There needs to be a study on how the area under paddy grew manifold within a few years. There needs to be a study done on whether the increase in area of paddy in Punjab was due to free electricity provided by the state government to the farmers. Also, there is a need for growing high-value and low-volume crops rather than high-volume and low-value crops in the state,&amp;quot; Gill said.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
Punjab passed the &#039;Punjab Preservation of Subsoil Water Act&#039; in 2009, which prescribed specific dates for farmers to sow nursery plants and to transplant the paddy plants into the fields. This was done to ensure that the paddy plants get enough water from the monsoon rains and there&#039;s no additional pressure on groundwater. The government fixes the date depending on the arrival of monsoon.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
Please &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.firstpost.com/india/paddy-in-punjab-part-1-over-cultivation-of-water-guzzling-rice-crop-threatens-to-deplete-states-groundwater-reserves-4619081.html&quot;&gt;click here&lt;/a&gt; to read more. &lt;br /&gt;
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-Firstpost.com

Chandigarh: Two years ago, Charan Singh&#039;s tubewell ran dry just before the paddy-sowing season could start. The rice farmer, who cultivates four acres of land in the Mansa district of Punjab, had been pumping water from 45 feet below the...&#039;,
	&#039;disp&#039; =&gt; &#039;&lt;div align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;-Firstpost.com&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;em&gt;Chandigarh: &lt;/em&gt;Two years ago, Charan Singh&#039;s tubewell ran dry just before the paddy-sowing season could start. The rice farmer, who cultivates four acres of land in the Mansa district of Punjab, had been pumping water from 45 feet below the surface. Now he had to dig another, deeper well.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Like Charan Singh, 36, thousands of farmers across Punjab are astonished at the speed at which groundwater, their principal source of water for irrigation, is running out. Tubewells, operated with electric water pumps, are being dug ever deeper in search of a secure source of water. The cost of digging a borewell could be anything from Rs 75,000 to over Rs 1.50 lakh.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Farmers in Punjab had traditionally followed a corn-wheat or sugarcane-corn-wheat cropping pattern. But during the Green Revolution in the 1960s, they shifted to a wheat-rice pattern, which led to an increased demand for irrigation water. The indiscriminate use of groundwater for the water-guzzling paddy crop is the principal reason precious groundwater ran dry, say experts.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Anoop Nagar, director of the Central Ground Water Board&#039;s (CGWB) northwest region, says there are areas in Punjab where water is depleting at the rate of four metres per year. &amp;quot;The rate of depletion is different in different parts of the state. While it&#039;s four metres per year in some areas, it could be two metres in other areas. But the decline is rapid everywhere and we need to check it urgently,&amp;quot; he said.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Punjab has a land area of 50,362 sq.km, which constitutes 1.57 percent of the country&#039;s total area. Yet, the state contributes over half the grain procured by the central government each year. About 84 percent of the state&#039;s geographical area is farmed. Punjab&#039;s over-dependence on agriculture is down to its geography and topography; it straddles the Indus river basin and is drained by three major rivers &amp;mdash; the Ravi, Beas and Sutlej, apart from other streams, including the Ghaggar, which drain the southern parts of the state.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;According to the Commission for Agriculture Costs and Prices, Punjab requires 5,337 litres of water to grow one kilogram of paddy, double of what&#039;s required in West Bengal (2,605 litres), a natural habitat of the crop. As PR Reddy, a former scientist with the National Geophysical Research Institute (NGRI), observed, &amp;quot;Neither a native plant nor suited to the agro-climatic region, paddy has pushed out maize and cotton, which were common in the pre-Green Revolution era. From 2.27 lakh hectares in 1960, the area under paddy rose to 26.12 lakh hectares by the year 2000; a growth rate of 1,050 percent.&amp;quot;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;The area under paddy cultivation had increased to 30.46 lakh hectares in 2016-17.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Free electricity provided to farmers by the state government contributes in no small measure to the problem. Moreover, farmers say there has been little or no effort or encouragement by the state government to get them to look beyond the wheat and paddy cycle.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Senior journalist PPS Gill agreed that Punjab was never suited to growing paddy. &amp;quot;There needs to be a study on how the area under paddy grew manifold within a few years. There needs to be a study done on whether the increase in area of paddy in Punjab was due to free electricity provided by the state government to the farmers. Also, there is a need for growing high-value and low-volume crops rather than high-volume and low-value crops in the state,&amp;quot; Gill said.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Punjab passed the &#039;Punjab Preservation of Subsoil Water Act&#039; in 2009, which prescribed specific dates for farmers to sow nursery plants and to transplant the paddy plants into the fields. This was done to ensure that the paddy plants get enough water from the monsoon rains and there&#039;s no additional pressure on groundwater. The government fixes the date depending on the arrival of monsoon.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Please &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.firstpost.com/india/paddy-in-punjab-part-1-over-cultivation-of-water-guzzling-rice-crop-threatens-to-deplete-states-groundwater-reserves-4619081.html&quot; title=&quot;https://www.firstpost.com/india/paddy-in-punjab-part-1-over-cultivation-of-water-guzzling-rice-crop-threatens-to-deplete-states-groundwater-reserves-4619081.html&quot;&gt;click here&lt;/a&gt; to read more. &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&#039;,
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-Firstpost.com&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;em&gt;Chandigarh: &lt;/em&gt;Two years ago, Charan Singh&#039;s tubewell ran dry just before the paddy-sowing season could start. The rice farmer, who cultivates four acres of land in the Mansa district of Punjab, had been pumping water from 45 feet below the surface. Now he had to dig another, deeper well.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
Like Charan Singh, 36, thousands of farmers across Punjab are astonished at the speed at which groundwater, their principal source of water for irrigation, is running out. Tubewells, operated with electric water pumps, are being dug ever deeper in search of a secure source of water. The cost of digging a borewell could be anything from Rs 75,000 to over Rs 1.50 lakh.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
Farmers in Punjab had traditionally followed a corn-wheat or sugarcane-corn-wheat cropping pattern. But during the Green Revolution in the 1960s, they shifted to a wheat-rice pattern, which led to an increased demand for irrigation water. The indiscriminate use of groundwater for the water-guzzling paddy crop is the principal reason precious groundwater ran dry, say experts.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
Anoop Nagar, director of the Central Ground Water Board&#039;s (CGWB) northwest region, says there are areas in Punjab where water is depleting at the rate of four metres per year. &amp;quot;The rate of depletion is different in different parts of the state. While it&#039;s four metres per year in some areas, it could be two metres in other areas. But the decline is rapid everywhere and we need to check it urgently,&amp;quot; he said.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
Punjab has a land area of 50,362 sq.km, which constitutes 1.57 percent of the country&#039;s total area. Yet, the state contributes over half the grain procured by the central government each year. About 84 percent of the state&#039;s geographical area is farmed. Punjab&#039;s over-dependence on agriculture is down to its geography and topography; it straddles the Indus river basin and is drained by three major rivers &amp;mdash; the Ravi, Beas and Sutlej, apart from other streams, including the Ghaggar, which drain the southern parts of the state.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
According to the Commission for Agriculture Costs and Prices, Punjab requires 5,337 litres of water to grow one kilogram of paddy, double of what&#039;s required in West Bengal (2,605 litres), a natural habitat of the crop. As PR Reddy, a former scientist with the National Geophysical Research Institute (NGRI), observed, &amp;quot;Neither a native plant nor suited to the agro-climatic region, paddy has pushed out maize and cotton, which were common in the pre-Green Revolution era. From 2.27 lakh hectares in 1960, the area under paddy rose to 26.12 lakh hectares by the year 2000; a growth rate of 1,050 percent.&amp;quot;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
The area under paddy cultivation had increased to 30.46 lakh hectares in 2016-17.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
Free electricity provided to farmers by the state government contributes in no small measure to the problem. Moreover, farmers say there has been little or no effort or encouragement by the state government to get them to look beyond the wheat and paddy cycle.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
Senior journalist PPS Gill agreed that Punjab was never suited to growing paddy. &amp;quot;There needs to be a study on how the area under paddy grew manifold within a few years. There needs to be a study done on whether the increase in area of paddy in Punjab was due to free electricity provided by the state government to the farmers. Also, there is a need for growing high-value and low-volume crops rather than high-volume and low-value crops in the state,&amp;quot; Gill said.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
Punjab passed the &#039;Punjab Preservation of Subsoil Water Act&#039; in 2009, which prescribed specific dates for farmers to sow nursery plants and to transplant the paddy plants into the fields. This was done to ensure that the paddy plants get enough water from the monsoon rains and there&#039;s no additional pressure on groundwater. The government fixes the date depending on the arrival of monsoon.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
Please &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.firstpost.com/india/paddy-in-punjab-part-1-over-cultivation-of-water-guzzling-rice-crop-threatens-to-deplete-states-groundwater-reserves-4619081.html&quot;&gt;click here&lt;/a&gt; to read more. &lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;/div&gt;&#039;,
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-Firstpost.com

Chandigarh: Two years ago, Charan Singh&#039;s tubewell ran dry just before the paddy-sowing season could start. The rice farmer, who cultivates four acres of land in the Mansa district of Punjab, had been pumping water from 45 feet below the...&#039;
$disp = &#039;&lt;div align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;-Firstpost.com&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;em&gt;Chandigarh: &lt;/em&gt;Two years ago, Charan Singh&#039;s tubewell ran dry just before the paddy-sowing season could start. The rice farmer, who cultivates four acres of land in the Mansa district of Punjab, had been pumping water from 45 feet below the surface. Now he had to dig another, deeper well.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Like Charan Singh, 36, thousands of farmers across Punjab are astonished at the speed at which groundwater, their principal source of water for irrigation, is running out. Tubewells, operated with electric water pumps, are being dug ever deeper in search of a secure source of water. The cost of digging a borewell could be anything from Rs 75,000 to over Rs 1.50 lakh.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Farmers in Punjab had traditionally followed a corn-wheat or sugarcane-corn-wheat cropping pattern. But during the Green Revolution in the 1960s, they shifted to a wheat-rice pattern, which led to an increased demand for irrigation water. The indiscriminate use of groundwater for the water-guzzling paddy crop is the principal reason precious groundwater ran dry, say experts.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Anoop Nagar, director of the Central Ground Water Board&#039;s (CGWB) northwest region, says there are areas in Punjab where water is depleting at the rate of four metres per year. &amp;quot;The rate of depletion is different in different parts of the state. While it&#039;s four metres per year in some areas, it could be two metres in other areas. But the decline is rapid everywhere and we need to check it urgently,&amp;quot; he said.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Punjab has a land area of 50,362 sq.km, which constitutes 1.57 percent of the country&#039;s total area. Yet, the state contributes over half the grain procured by the central government each year. About 84 percent of the state&#039;s geographical area is farmed. Punjab&#039;s over-dependence on agriculture is down to its geography and topography; it straddles the Indus river basin and is drained by three major rivers &amp;mdash; the Ravi, Beas and Sutlej, apart from other streams, including the Ghaggar, which drain the southern parts of the state.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;According to the Commission for Agriculture Costs and Prices, Punjab requires 5,337 litres of water to grow one kilogram of paddy, double of what&#039;s required in West Bengal (2,605 litres), a natural habitat of the crop. As PR Reddy, a former scientist with the National Geophysical Research Institute (NGRI), observed, &amp;quot;Neither a native plant nor suited to the agro-climatic region, paddy has pushed out maize and cotton, which were common in the pre-Green Revolution era. From 2.27 lakh hectares in 1960, the area under paddy rose to 26.12 lakh hectares by the year 2000; a growth rate of 1,050 percent.&amp;quot;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;The area under paddy cultivation had increased to 30.46 lakh hectares in 2016-17.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Free electricity provided to farmers by the state government contributes in no small measure to the problem. Moreover, farmers say there has been little or no effort or encouragement by the state government to get them to look beyond the wheat and paddy cycle.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Senior journalist PPS Gill agreed that Punjab was never suited to growing paddy. &amp;quot;There needs to be a study on how the area under paddy grew manifold within a few years. There needs to be a study done on whether the increase in area of paddy in Punjab was due to free electricity provided by the state government to the farmers. Also, there is a need for growing high-value and low-volume crops rather than high-volume and low-value crops in the state,&amp;quot; Gill said.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Punjab passed the &#039;Punjab Preservation of Subsoil Water Act&#039; in 2009, which prescribed specific dates for farmers to sow nursery plants and to transplant the paddy plants into the fields. This was done to ensure that the paddy plants get enough water from the monsoon rains and there&#039;s no additional pressure on groundwater. The government fixes the date depending on the arrival of monsoon.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Please &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.firstpost.com/india/paddy-in-punjab-part-1-over-cultivation-of-water-guzzling-rice-crop-threatens-to-deplete-states-groundwater-reserves-4619081.html&quot; title=&quot;https://www.firstpost.com/india/paddy-in-punjab-part-1-over-cultivation-of-water-guzzling-rice-crop-threatens-to-deplete-states-groundwater-reserves-4619081.html&quot;&gt;click here&lt;/a&gt; to read more. &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&#039;
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Chandigarh: Two years ago, Charan Singh's tubewell ran dry just before the paddy-sowing season could start. The rice farmer, who cultivates four acres of land in the Mansa district of Punjab, had been pumping water from 45 feet below the..."/>
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                <strong>Over-cultivation of water-guzzling rice crop threatens to deplete state&#039;s groundwater reserves -Arjun Sharma</strong></h1>
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                <div align="justify">-Firstpost.com<br /><br /><em>Chandigarh: </em>Two years ago, Charan Singh's tubewell ran dry just before the paddy-sowing season could start. The rice farmer, who cultivates four acres of land in the Mansa district of Punjab, had been pumping water from 45 feet below the surface. Now he had to dig another, deeper well.<br /><br />Like Charan Singh, 36, thousands of farmers across Punjab are astonished at the speed at which groundwater, their principal source of water for irrigation, is running out. Tubewells, operated with electric water pumps, are being dug ever deeper in search of a secure source of water. The cost of digging a borewell could be anything from Rs 75,000 to over Rs 1.50 lakh.<br /><br />Farmers in Punjab had traditionally followed a corn-wheat or sugarcane-corn-wheat cropping pattern. But during the Green Revolution in the 1960s, they shifted to a wheat-rice pattern, which led to an increased demand for irrigation water. The indiscriminate use of groundwater for the water-guzzling paddy crop is the principal reason precious groundwater ran dry, say experts.<br /><br />Anoop Nagar, director of the Central Ground Water Board's (CGWB) northwest region, says there are areas in Punjab where water is depleting at the rate of four metres per year. &quot;The rate of depletion is different in different parts of the state. While it's four metres per year in some areas, it could be two metres in other areas. But the decline is rapid everywhere and we need to check it urgently,&quot; he said.<br /><br />Punjab has a land area of 50,362 sq.km, which constitutes 1.57 percent of the country's total area. Yet, the state contributes over half the grain procured by the central government each year. About 84 percent of the state's geographical area is farmed. Punjab's over-dependence on agriculture is down to its geography and topography; it straddles the Indus river basin and is drained by three major rivers &mdash; the Ravi, Beas and Sutlej, apart from other streams, including the Ghaggar, which drain the southern parts of the state.<br /><br />According to the Commission for Agriculture Costs and Prices, Punjab requires 5,337 litres of water to grow one kilogram of paddy, double of what's required in West Bengal (2,605 litres), a natural habitat of the crop. As PR Reddy, a former scientist with the National Geophysical Research Institute (NGRI), observed, &quot;Neither a native plant nor suited to the agro-climatic region, paddy has pushed out maize and cotton, which were common in the pre-Green Revolution era. From 2.27 lakh hectares in 1960, the area under paddy rose to 26.12 lakh hectares by the year 2000; a growth rate of 1,050 percent.&quot;<br /><br />The area under paddy cultivation had increased to 30.46 lakh hectares in 2016-17.<br /><br />Free electricity provided to farmers by the state government contributes in no small measure to the problem. Moreover, farmers say there has been little or no effort or encouragement by the state government to get them to look beyond the wheat and paddy cycle.<br /><br />Senior journalist PPS Gill agreed that Punjab was never suited to growing paddy. &quot;There needs to be a study on how the area under paddy grew manifold within a few years. There needs to be a study done on whether the increase in area of paddy in Punjab was due to free electricity provided by the state government to the farmers. Also, there is a need for growing high-value and low-volume crops rather than high-volume and low-value crops in the state,&quot; Gill said.<br /><br />Punjab passed the 'Punjab Preservation of Subsoil Water Act' in 2009, which prescribed specific dates for farmers to sow nursery plants and to transplant the paddy plants into the fields. This was done to ensure that the paddy plants get enough water from the monsoon rains and there's no additional pressure on groundwater. The government fixes the date depending on the arrival of monsoon.<br /><br />Please <a href="https://www.firstpost.com/india/paddy-in-punjab-part-1-over-cultivation-of-water-guzzling-rice-crop-threatens-to-deplete-states-groundwater-reserves-4619081.html" title="https://www.firstpost.com/india/paddy-in-punjab-part-1-over-cultivation-of-water-guzzling-rice-crop-threatens-to-deplete-states-groundwater-reserves-4619081.html">click here</a> to read more. <br /><br /></div>               </font>
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-Firstpost.com&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;em&gt;Chandigarh: &lt;/em&gt;Two years ago, Charan Singh&#039;s tubewell ran dry just before the paddy-sowing season could start. The rice farmer, who cultivates four acres of land in the Mansa district of Punjab, had been pumping water from 45 feet below the surface. Now he had to dig another, deeper well.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
Like Charan Singh, 36, thousands of farmers across Punjab are astonished at the speed at which groundwater, their principal source of water for irrigation, is running out. Tubewells, operated with electric water pumps, are being dug ever deeper in search of a secure source of water. The cost of digging a borewell could be anything from Rs 75,000 to over Rs 1.50 lakh.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
Farmers in Punjab had traditionally followed a corn-wheat or sugarcane-corn-wheat cropping pattern. But during the Green Revolution in the 1960s, they shifted to a wheat-rice pattern, which led to an increased demand for irrigation water. The indiscriminate use of groundwater for the water-guzzling paddy crop is the principal reason precious groundwater ran dry, say experts.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
Anoop Nagar, director of the Central Ground Water Board&#039;s (CGWB) northwest region, says there are areas in Punjab where water is depleting at the rate of four metres per year. &amp;quot;The rate of depletion is different in different parts of the state. While it&#039;s four metres per year in some areas, it could be two metres in other areas. But the decline is rapid everywhere and we need to check it urgently,&amp;quot; he said.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
Punjab has a land area of 50,362 sq.km, which constitutes 1.57 percent of the country&#039;s total area. Yet, the state contributes over half the grain procured by the central government each year. About 84 percent of the state&#039;s geographical area is farmed. Punjab&#039;s over-dependence on agriculture is down to its geography and topography; it straddles the Indus river basin and is drained by three major rivers &amp;mdash; the Ravi, Beas and Sutlej, apart from other streams, including the Ghaggar, which drain the southern parts of the state.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
According to the Commission for Agriculture Costs and Prices, Punjab requires 5,337 litres of water to grow one kilogram of paddy, double of what&#039;s required in West Bengal (2,605 litres), a natural habitat of the crop. As PR Reddy, a former scientist with the National Geophysical Research Institute (NGRI), observed, &amp;quot;Neither a native plant nor suited to the agro-climatic region, paddy has pushed out maize and cotton, which were common in the pre-Green Revolution era. From 2.27 lakh hectares in 1960, the area under paddy rose to 26.12 lakh hectares by the year 2000; a growth rate of 1,050 percent.&amp;quot;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
The area under paddy cultivation had increased to 30.46 lakh hectares in 2016-17.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
Free electricity provided to farmers by the state government contributes in no small measure to the problem. Moreover, farmers say there has been little or no effort or encouragement by the state government to get them to look beyond the wheat and paddy cycle.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
Senior journalist PPS Gill agreed that Punjab was never suited to growing paddy. &amp;quot;There needs to be a study on how the area under paddy grew manifold within a few years. There needs to be a study done on whether the increase in area of paddy in Punjab was due to free electricity provided by the state government to the farmers. Also, there is a need for growing high-value and low-volume crops rather than high-volume and low-value crops in the state,&amp;quot; Gill said.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
Punjab passed the &#039;Punjab Preservation of Subsoil Water Act&#039; in 2009, which prescribed specific dates for farmers to sow nursery plants and to transplant the paddy plants into the fields. This was done to ensure that the paddy plants get enough water from the monsoon rains and there&#039;s no additional pressure on groundwater. The government fixes the date depending on the arrival of monsoon.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
Please &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.firstpost.com/india/paddy-in-punjab-part-1-over-cultivation-of-water-guzzling-rice-crop-threatens-to-deplete-states-groundwater-reserves-4619081.html&quot;&gt;click here&lt;/a&gt; to read more. &lt;br /&gt;
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Chandigarh: Two years ago, Charan Singh&#039;s tubewell ran dry just before the paddy-sowing season could start. The rice farmer, who cultivates four acres of land in the Mansa district of Punjab, had been pumping water from 45 feet below the...&#039;,
	&#039;disp&#039; =&gt; &#039;&lt;div align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;-Firstpost.com&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;em&gt;Chandigarh: &lt;/em&gt;Two years ago, Charan Singh&#039;s tubewell ran dry just before the paddy-sowing season could start. The rice farmer, who cultivates four acres of land in the Mansa district of Punjab, had been pumping water from 45 feet below the surface. Now he had to dig another, deeper well.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Like Charan Singh, 36, thousands of farmers across Punjab are astonished at the speed at which groundwater, their principal source of water for irrigation, is running out. Tubewells, operated with electric water pumps, are being dug ever deeper in search of a secure source of water. The cost of digging a borewell could be anything from Rs 75,000 to over Rs 1.50 lakh.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Farmers in Punjab had traditionally followed a corn-wheat or sugarcane-corn-wheat cropping pattern. But during the Green Revolution in the 1960s, they shifted to a wheat-rice pattern, which led to an increased demand for irrigation water. The indiscriminate use of groundwater for the water-guzzling paddy crop is the principal reason precious groundwater ran dry, say experts.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Anoop Nagar, director of the Central Ground Water Board&#039;s (CGWB) northwest region, says there are areas in Punjab where water is depleting at the rate of four metres per year. &amp;quot;The rate of depletion is different in different parts of the state. While it&#039;s four metres per year in some areas, it could be two metres in other areas. But the decline is rapid everywhere and we need to check it urgently,&amp;quot; he said.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Punjab has a land area of 50,362 sq.km, which constitutes 1.57 percent of the country&#039;s total area. Yet, the state contributes over half the grain procured by the central government each year. About 84 percent of the state&#039;s geographical area is farmed. Punjab&#039;s over-dependence on agriculture is down to its geography and topography; it straddles the Indus river basin and is drained by three major rivers &amp;mdash; the Ravi, Beas and Sutlej, apart from other streams, including the Ghaggar, which drain the southern parts of the state.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;According to the Commission for Agriculture Costs and Prices, Punjab requires 5,337 litres of water to grow one kilogram of paddy, double of what&#039;s required in West Bengal (2,605 litres), a natural habitat of the crop. As PR Reddy, a former scientist with the National Geophysical Research Institute (NGRI), observed, &amp;quot;Neither a native plant nor suited to the agro-climatic region, paddy has pushed out maize and cotton, which were common in the pre-Green Revolution era. From 2.27 lakh hectares in 1960, the area under paddy rose to 26.12 lakh hectares by the year 2000; a growth rate of 1,050 percent.&amp;quot;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;The area under paddy cultivation had increased to 30.46 lakh hectares in 2016-17.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Free electricity provided to farmers by the state government contributes in no small measure to the problem. Moreover, farmers say there has been little or no effort or encouragement by the state government to get them to look beyond the wheat and paddy cycle.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Senior journalist PPS Gill agreed that Punjab was never suited to growing paddy. &amp;quot;There needs to be a study on how the area under paddy grew manifold within a few years. There needs to be a study done on whether the increase in area of paddy in Punjab was due to free electricity provided by the state government to the farmers. Also, there is a need for growing high-value and low-volume crops rather than high-volume and low-value crops in the state,&amp;quot; Gill said.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Punjab passed the &#039;Punjab Preservation of Subsoil Water Act&#039; in 2009, which prescribed specific dates for farmers to sow nursery plants and to transplant the paddy plants into the fields. This was done to ensure that the paddy plants get enough water from the monsoon rains and there&#039;s no additional pressure on groundwater. The government fixes the date depending on the arrival of monsoon.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Please &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.firstpost.com/india/paddy-in-punjab-part-1-over-cultivation-of-water-guzzling-rice-crop-threatens-to-deplete-states-groundwater-reserves-4619081.html&quot; title=&quot;https://www.firstpost.com/india/paddy-in-punjab-part-1-over-cultivation-of-water-guzzling-rice-crop-threatens-to-deplete-states-groundwater-reserves-4619081.html&quot;&gt;click here&lt;/a&gt; to read more. &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&#039;,
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	&#039;title&#039; =&gt; &#039;Over-cultivation of water-guzzling rice crop threatens to deplete state&amp;#039;s groundwater reserves -Arjun Sharma&#039;,
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&lt;em&gt;Chandigarh: &lt;/em&gt;Two years ago, Charan Singh&#039;s tubewell ran dry just before the paddy-sowing season could start. The rice farmer, who cultivates four acres of land in the Mansa district of Punjab, had been pumping water from 45 feet below the surface. Now he had to dig another, deeper well.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
Like Charan Singh, 36, thousands of farmers across Punjab are astonished at the speed at which groundwater, their principal source of water for irrigation, is running out. Tubewells, operated with electric water pumps, are being dug ever deeper in search of a secure source of water. The cost of digging a borewell could be anything from Rs 75,000 to over Rs 1.50 lakh.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
Farmers in Punjab had traditionally followed a corn-wheat or sugarcane-corn-wheat cropping pattern. But during the Green Revolution in the 1960s, they shifted to a wheat-rice pattern, which led to an increased demand for irrigation water. The indiscriminate use of groundwater for the water-guzzling paddy crop is the principal reason precious groundwater ran dry, say experts.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
Anoop Nagar, director of the Central Ground Water Board&#039;s (CGWB) northwest region, says there are areas in Punjab where water is depleting at the rate of four metres per year. &amp;quot;The rate of depletion is different in different parts of the state. While it&#039;s four metres per year in some areas, it could be two metres in other areas. But the decline is rapid everywhere and we need to check it urgently,&amp;quot; he said.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
Punjab has a land area of 50,362 sq.km, which constitutes 1.57 percent of the country&#039;s total area. Yet, the state contributes over half the grain procured by the central government each year. About 84 percent of the state&#039;s geographical area is farmed. Punjab&#039;s over-dependence on agriculture is down to its geography and topography; it straddles the Indus river basin and is drained by three major rivers &amp;mdash; the Ravi, Beas and Sutlej, apart from other streams, including the Ghaggar, which drain the southern parts of the state.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
According to the Commission for Agriculture Costs and Prices, Punjab requires 5,337 litres of water to grow one kilogram of paddy, double of what&#039;s required in West Bengal (2,605 litres), a natural habitat of the crop. As PR Reddy, a former scientist with the National Geophysical Research Institute (NGRI), observed, &amp;quot;Neither a native plant nor suited to the agro-climatic region, paddy has pushed out maize and cotton, which were common in the pre-Green Revolution era. From 2.27 lakh hectares in 1960, the area under paddy rose to 26.12 lakh hectares by the year 2000; a growth rate of 1,050 percent.&amp;quot;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
The area under paddy cultivation had increased to 30.46 lakh hectares in 2016-17.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
Free electricity provided to farmers by the state government contributes in no small measure to the problem. Moreover, farmers say there has been little or no effort or encouragement by the state government to get them to look beyond the wheat and paddy cycle.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
Senior journalist PPS Gill agreed that Punjab was never suited to growing paddy. &amp;quot;There needs to be a study on how the area under paddy grew manifold within a few years. There needs to be a study done on whether the increase in area of paddy in Punjab was due to free electricity provided by the state government to the farmers. Also, there is a need for growing high-value and low-volume crops rather than high-volume and low-value crops in the state,&amp;quot; Gill said.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
Punjab passed the &#039;Punjab Preservation of Subsoil Water Act&#039; in 2009, which prescribed specific dates for farmers to sow nursery plants and to transplant the paddy plants into the fields. This was done to ensure that the paddy plants get enough water from the monsoon rains and there&#039;s no additional pressure on groundwater. The government fixes the date depending on the arrival of monsoon.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
Please &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.firstpost.com/india/paddy-in-punjab-part-1-over-cultivation-of-water-guzzling-rice-crop-threatens-to-deplete-states-groundwater-reserves-4619081.html&quot;&gt;click here&lt;/a&gt; to read more. &lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;/div&gt;&#039;,
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-Firstpost.com

Chandigarh: Two years ago, Charan Singh&#039;s tubewell ran dry just before the paddy-sowing season could start. The rice farmer, who cultivates four acres of land in the Mansa district of Punjab, had been pumping water from 45 feet below the...&#039;
$disp = &#039;&lt;div align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;-Firstpost.com&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;em&gt;Chandigarh: &lt;/em&gt;Two years ago, Charan Singh&#039;s tubewell ran dry just before the paddy-sowing season could start. The rice farmer, who cultivates four acres of land in the Mansa district of Punjab, had been pumping water from 45 feet below the surface. Now he had to dig another, deeper well.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Like Charan Singh, 36, thousands of farmers across Punjab are astonished at the speed at which groundwater, their principal source of water for irrigation, is running out. Tubewells, operated with electric water pumps, are being dug ever deeper in search of a secure source of water. The cost of digging a borewell could be anything from Rs 75,000 to over Rs 1.50 lakh.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Farmers in Punjab had traditionally followed a corn-wheat or sugarcane-corn-wheat cropping pattern. But during the Green Revolution in the 1960s, they shifted to a wheat-rice pattern, which led to an increased demand for irrigation water. The indiscriminate use of groundwater for the water-guzzling paddy crop is the principal reason precious groundwater ran dry, say experts.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Anoop Nagar, director of the Central Ground Water Board&#039;s (CGWB) northwest region, says there are areas in Punjab where water is depleting at the rate of four metres per year. &amp;quot;The rate of depletion is different in different parts of the state. While it&#039;s four metres per year in some areas, it could be two metres in other areas. But the decline is rapid everywhere and we need to check it urgently,&amp;quot; he said.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Punjab has a land area of 50,362 sq.km, which constitutes 1.57 percent of the country&#039;s total area. Yet, the state contributes over half the grain procured by the central government each year. About 84 percent of the state&#039;s geographical area is farmed. Punjab&#039;s over-dependence on agriculture is down to its geography and topography; it straddles the Indus river basin and is drained by three major rivers &amp;mdash; the Ravi, Beas and Sutlej, apart from other streams, including the Ghaggar, which drain the southern parts of the state.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;According to the Commission for Agriculture Costs and Prices, Punjab requires 5,337 litres of water to grow one kilogram of paddy, double of what&#039;s required in West Bengal (2,605 litres), a natural habitat of the crop. As PR Reddy, a former scientist with the National Geophysical Research Institute (NGRI), observed, &amp;quot;Neither a native plant nor suited to the agro-climatic region, paddy has pushed out maize and cotton, which were common in the pre-Green Revolution era. From 2.27 lakh hectares in 1960, the area under paddy rose to 26.12 lakh hectares by the year 2000; a growth rate of 1,050 percent.&amp;quot;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;The area under paddy cultivation had increased to 30.46 lakh hectares in 2016-17.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Free electricity provided to farmers by the state government contributes in no small measure to the problem. Moreover, farmers say there has been little or no effort or encouragement by the state government to get them to look beyond the wheat and paddy cycle.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Senior journalist PPS Gill agreed that Punjab was never suited to growing paddy. &amp;quot;There needs to be a study on how the area under paddy grew manifold within a few years. There needs to be a study done on whether the increase in area of paddy in Punjab was due to free electricity provided by the state government to the farmers. Also, there is a need for growing high-value and low-volume crops rather than high-volume and low-value crops in the state,&amp;quot; Gill said.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Punjab passed the &#039;Punjab Preservation of Subsoil Water Act&#039; in 2009, which prescribed specific dates for farmers to sow nursery plants and to transplant the paddy plants into the fields. This was done to ensure that the paddy plants get enough water from the monsoon rains and there&#039;s no additional pressure on groundwater. The government fixes the date depending on the arrival of monsoon.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Please &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.firstpost.com/india/paddy-in-punjab-part-1-over-cultivation-of-water-guzzling-rice-crop-threatens-to-deplete-states-groundwater-reserves-4619081.html&quot; title=&quot;https://www.firstpost.com/india/paddy-in-punjab-part-1-over-cultivation-of-water-guzzling-rice-crop-threatens-to-deplete-states-groundwater-reserves-4619081.html&quot;&gt;click here&lt;/a&gt; to read more. &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&#039;
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Chandigarh: Two years ago, Charan Singh's tubewell ran dry just before the paddy-sowing season could start. The rice farmer, who cultivates four acres of land in the Mansa district of Punjab, had been pumping water from 45 feet below the..."/>
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                <strong>Over-cultivation of water-guzzling rice crop threatens to deplete state&#039;s groundwater reserves -Arjun Sharma</strong></h1>
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                <div align="justify">-Firstpost.com<br /><br /><em>Chandigarh: </em>Two years ago, Charan Singh's tubewell ran dry just before the paddy-sowing season could start. The rice farmer, who cultivates four acres of land in the Mansa district of Punjab, had been pumping water from 45 feet below the surface. Now he had to dig another, deeper well.<br /><br />Like Charan Singh, 36, thousands of farmers across Punjab are astonished at the speed at which groundwater, their principal source of water for irrigation, is running out. Tubewells, operated with electric water pumps, are being dug ever deeper in search of a secure source of water. The cost of digging a borewell could be anything from Rs 75,000 to over Rs 1.50 lakh.<br /><br />Farmers in Punjab had traditionally followed a corn-wheat or sugarcane-corn-wheat cropping pattern. But during the Green Revolution in the 1960s, they shifted to a wheat-rice pattern, which led to an increased demand for irrigation water. The indiscriminate use of groundwater for the water-guzzling paddy crop is the principal reason precious groundwater ran dry, say experts.<br /><br />Anoop Nagar, director of the Central Ground Water Board's (CGWB) northwest region, says there are areas in Punjab where water is depleting at the rate of four metres per year. &quot;The rate of depletion is different in different parts of the state. While it's four metres per year in some areas, it could be two metres in other areas. But the decline is rapid everywhere and we need to check it urgently,&quot; he said.<br /><br />Punjab has a land area of 50,362 sq.km, which constitutes 1.57 percent of the country's total area. Yet, the state contributes over half the grain procured by the central government each year. About 84 percent of the state's geographical area is farmed. Punjab's over-dependence on agriculture is down to its geography and topography; it straddles the Indus river basin and is drained by three major rivers &mdash; the Ravi, Beas and Sutlej, apart from other streams, including the Ghaggar, which drain the southern parts of the state.<br /><br />According to the Commission for Agriculture Costs and Prices, Punjab requires 5,337 litres of water to grow one kilogram of paddy, double of what's required in West Bengal (2,605 litres), a natural habitat of the crop. As PR Reddy, a former scientist with the National Geophysical Research Institute (NGRI), observed, &quot;Neither a native plant nor suited to the agro-climatic region, paddy has pushed out maize and cotton, which were common in the pre-Green Revolution era. From 2.27 lakh hectares in 1960, the area under paddy rose to 26.12 lakh hectares by the year 2000; a growth rate of 1,050 percent.&quot;<br /><br />The area under paddy cultivation had increased to 30.46 lakh hectares in 2016-17.<br /><br />Free electricity provided to farmers by the state government contributes in no small measure to the problem. Moreover, farmers say there has been little or no effort or encouragement by the state government to get them to look beyond the wheat and paddy cycle.<br /><br />Senior journalist PPS Gill agreed that Punjab was never suited to growing paddy. &quot;There needs to be a study on how the area under paddy grew manifold within a few years. There needs to be a study done on whether the increase in area of paddy in Punjab was due to free electricity provided by the state government to the farmers. Also, there is a need for growing high-value and low-volume crops rather than high-volume and low-value crops in the state,&quot; Gill said.<br /><br />Punjab passed the 'Punjab Preservation of Subsoil Water Act' in 2009, which prescribed specific dates for farmers to sow nursery plants and to transplant the paddy plants into the fields. This was done to ensure that the paddy plants get enough water from the monsoon rains and there's no additional pressure on groundwater. The government fixes the date depending on the arrival of monsoon.<br /><br />Please <a href="https://www.firstpost.com/india/paddy-in-punjab-part-1-over-cultivation-of-water-guzzling-rice-crop-threatens-to-deplete-states-groundwater-reserves-4619081.html" title="https://www.firstpost.com/india/paddy-in-punjab-part-1-over-cultivation-of-water-guzzling-rice-crop-threatens-to-deplete-states-groundwater-reserves-4619081.html">click here</a> to read more. <br /><br /></div>               </font>
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    <link rel="canonical" href="https://im4change.in/<pre class="cake-error"><a href="javascript:void(0);" onclick="document.getElementById('cakeErr67ef0b06160d9-trace').style.display = (document.getElementById('cakeErr67ef0b06160d9-trace').style.display == 'none' ? '' : 'none');"><b>Notice</b> (8)</a>: Undefined variable: urlPrefix [<b>APP/Template/Layout/printlayout.ctp</b>, line <b>8</b>]<div id="cakeErr67ef0b06160d9-trace" class="cake-stack-trace" style="display: none;"><a href="javascript:void(0);" onclick="document.getElementById('cakeErr67ef0b06160d9-code').style.display = (document.getElementById('cakeErr67ef0b06160d9-code').style.display == 'none' ? '' : 'none')">Code</a> <a href="javascript:void(0);" onclick="document.getElementById('cakeErr67ef0b06160d9-context').style.display = (document.getElementById('cakeErr67ef0b06160d9-context').style.display == 'none' ? '' : 'none')">Context</a><pre id="cakeErr67ef0b06160d9-code" class="cake-code-dump" style="display: none;"><code><span style="color: #000000"><span style="color: #0000BB"></span><span style="color: #007700">&lt;</span><span style="color: #0000BB">head</span><span style="color: #007700">&gt;
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-Firstpost.com&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;em&gt;Chandigarh: &lt;/em&gt;Two years ago, Charan Singh&#039;s tubewell ran dry just before the paddy-sowing season could start. The rice farmer, who cultivates four acres of land in the Mansa district of Punjab, had been pumping water from 45 feet below the surface. Now he had to dig another, deeper well.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
Like Charan Singh, 36, thousands of farmers across Punjab are astonished at the speed at which groundwater, their principal source of water for irrigation, is running out. Tubewells, operated with electric water pumps, are being dug ever deeper in search of a secure source of water. The cost of digging a borewell could be anything from Rs 75,000 to over Rs 1.50 lakh.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
Farmers in Punjab had traditionally followed a corn-wheat or sugarcane-corn-wheat cropping pattern. But during the Green Revolution in the 1960s, they shifted to a wheat-rice pattern, which led to an increased demand for irrigation water. The indiscriminate use of groundwater for the water-guzzling paddy crop is the principal reason precious groundwater ran dry, say experts.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
Anoop Nagar, director of the Central Ground Water Board&#039;s (CGWB) northwest region, says there are areas in Punjab where water is depleting at the rate of four metres per year. &amp;quot;The rate of depletion is different in different parts of the state. While it&#039;s four metres per year in some areas, it could be two metres in other areas. But the decline is rapid everywhere and we need to check it urgently,&amp;quot; he said.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
Punjab has a land area of 50,362 sq.km, which constitutes 1.57 percent of the country&#039;s total area. Yet, the state contributes over half the grain procured by the central government each year. About 84 percent of the state&#039;s geographical area is farmed. Punjab&#039;s over-dependence on agriculture is down to its geography and topography; it straddles the Indus river basin and is drained by three major rivers &amp;mdash; the Ravi, Beas and Sutlej, apart from other streams, including the Ghaggar, which drain the southern parts of the state.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
According to the Commission for Agriculture Costs and Prices, Punjab requires 5,337 litres of water to grow one kilogram of paddy, double of what&#039;s required in West Bengal (2,605 litres), a natural habitat of the crop. As PR Reddy, a former scientist with the National Geophysical Research Institute (NGRI), observed, &amp;quot;Neither a native plant nor suited to the agro-climatic region, paddy has pushed out maize and cotton, which were common in the pre-Green Revolution era. From 2.27 lakh hectares in 1960, the area under paddy rose to 26.12 lakh hectares by the year 2000; a growth rate of 1,050 percent.&amp;quot;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
The area under paddy cultivation had increased to 30.46 lakh hectares in 2016-17.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
Free electricity provided to farmers by the state government contributes in no small measure to the problem. Moreover, farmers say there has been little or no effort or encouragement by the state government to get them to look beyond the wheat and paddy cycle.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
Senior journalist PPS Gill agreed that Punjab was never suited to growing paddy. &amp;quot;There needs to be a study on how the area under paddy grew manifold within a few years. There needs to be a study done on whether the increase in area of paddy in Punjab was due to free electricity provided by the state government to the farmers. Also, there is a need for growing high-value and low-volume crops rather than high-volume and low-value crops in the state,&amp;quot; Gill said.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
Punjab passed the &#039;Punjab Preservation of Subsoil Water Act&#039; in 2009, which prescribed specific dates for farmers to sow nursery plants and to transplant the paddy plants into the fields. This was done to ensure that the paddy plants get enough water from the monsoon rains and there&#039;s no additional pressure on groundwater. The government fixes the date depending on the arrival of monsoon.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
Please &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.firstpost.com/india/paddy-in-punjab-part-1-over-cultivation-of-water-guzzling-rice-crop-threatens-to-deplete-states-groundwater-reserves-4619081.html&quot;&gt;click here&lt;/a&gt; to read more. &lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;/div&gt;&#039;,
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-Firstpost.com

Chandigarh: Two years ago, Charan Singh&#039;s tubewell ran dry just before the paddy-sowing season could start. The rice farmer, who cultivates four acres of land in the Mansa district of Punjab, had been pumping water from 45 feet below the...&#039;,
	&#039;disp&#039; =&gt; &#039;&lt;div align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;-Firstpost.com&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;em&gt;Chandigarh: &lt;/em&gt;Two years ago, Charan Singh&#039;s tubewell ran dry just before the paddy-sowing season could start. The rice farmer, who cultivates four acres of land in the Mansa district of Punjab, had been pumping water from 45 feet below the surface. Now he had to dig another, deeper well.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Like Charan Singh, 36, thousands of farmers across Punjab are astonished at the speed at which groundwater, their principal source of water for irrigation, is running out. Tubewells, operated with electric water pumps, are being dug ever deeper in search of a secure source of water. The cost of digging a borewell could be anything from Rs 75,000 to over Rs 1.50 lakh.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Farmers in Punjab had traditionally followed a corn-wheat or sugarcane-corn-wheat cropping pattern. But during the Green Revolution in the 1960s, they shifted to a wheat-rice pattern, which led to an increased demand for irrigation water. The indiscriminate use of groundwater for the water-guzzling paddy crop is the principal reason precious groundwater ran dry, say experts.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Anoop Nagar, director of the Central Ground Water Board&#039;s (CGWB) northwest region, says there are areas in Punjab where water is depleting at the rate of four metres per year. &amp;quot;The rate of depletion is different in different parts of the state. While it&#039;s four metres per year in some areas, it could be two metres in other areas. But the decline is rapid everywhere and we need to check it urgently,&amp;quot; he said.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Punjab has a land area of 50,362 sq.km, which constitutes 1.57 percent of the country&#039;s total area. Yet, the state contributes over half the grain procured by the central government each year. About 84 percent of the state&#039;s geographical area is farmed. Punjab&#039;s over-dependence on agriculture is down to its geography and topography; it straddles the Indus river basin and is drained by three major rivers &amp;mdash; the Ravi, Beas and Sutlej, apart from other streams, including the Ghaggar, which drain the southern parts of the state.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;According to the Commission for Agriculture Costs and Prices, Punjab requires 5,337 litres of water to grow one kilogram of paddy, double of what&#039;s required in West Bengal (2,605 litres), a natural habitat of the crop. As PR Reddy, a former scientist with the National Geophysical Research Institute (NGRI), observed, &amp;quot;Neither a native plant nor suited to the agro-climatic region, paddy has pushed out maize and cotton, which were common in the pre-Green Revolution era. From 2.27 lakh hectares in 1960, the area under paddy rose to 26.12 lakh hectares by the year 2000; a growth rate of 1,050 percent.&amp;quot;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;The area under paddy cultivation had increased to 30.46 lakh hectares in 2016-17.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Free electricity provided to farmers by the state government contributes in no small measure to the problem. Moreover, farmers say there has been little or no effort or encouragement by the state government to get them to look beyond the wheat and paddy cycle.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Senior journalist PPS Gill agreed that Punjab was never suited to growing paddy. &amp;quot;There needs to be a study on how the area under paddy grew manifold within a few years. There needs to be a study done on whether the increase in area of paddy in Punjab was due to free electricity provided by the state government to the farmers. Also, there is a need for growing high-value and low-volume crops rather than high-volume and low-value crops in the state,&amp;quot; Gill said.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Punjab passed the &#039;Punjab Preservation of Subsoil Water Act&#039; in 2009, which prescribed specific dates for farmers to sow nursery plants and to transplant the paddy plants into the fields. This was done to ensure that the paddy plants get enough water from the monsoon rains and there&#039;s no additional pressure on groundwater. The government fixes the date depending on the arrival of monsoon.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Please &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.firstpost.com/india/paddy-in-punjab-part-1-over-cultivation-of-water-guzzling-rice-crop-threatens-to-deplete-states-groundwater-reserves-4619081.html&quot; title=&quot;https://www.firstpost.com/india/paddy-in-punjab-part-1-over-cultivation-of-water-guzzling-rice-crop-threatens-to-deplete-states-groundwater-reserves-4619081.html&quot;&gt;click here&lt;/a&gt; to read more. &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&#039;,
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-Firstpost.com&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;em&gt;Chandigarh: &lt;/em&gt;Two years ago, Charan Singh&#039;s tubewell ran dry just before the paddy-sowing season could start. The rice farmer, who cultivates four acres of land in the Mansa district of Punjab, had been pumping water from 45 feet below the surface. Now he had to dig another, deeper well.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
Like Charan Singh, 36, thousands of farmers across Punjab are astonished at the speed at which groundwater, their principal source of water for irrigation, is running out. Tubewells, operated with electric water pumps, are being dug ever deeper in search of a secure source of water. The cost of digging a borewell could be anything from Rs 75,000 to over Rs 1.50 lakh.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
Farmers in Punjab had traditionally followed a corn-wheat or sugarcane-corn-wheat cropping pattern. But during the Green Revolution in the 1960s, they shifted to a wheat-rice pattern, which led to an increased demand for irrigation water. The indiscriminate use of groundwater for the water-guzzling paddy crop is the principal reason precious groundwater ran dry, say experts.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
Anoop Nagar, director of the Central Ground Water Board&#039;s (CGWB) northwest region, says there are areas in Punjab where water is depleting at the rate of four metres per year. &amp;quot;The rate of depletion is different in different parts of the state. While it&#039;s four metres per year in some areas, it could be two metres in other areas. But the decline is rapid everywhere and we need to check it urgently,&amp;quot; he said.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
Punjab has a land area of 50,362 sq.km, which constitutes 1.57 percent of the country&#039;s total area. Yet, the state contributes over half the grain procured by the central government each year. About 84 percent of the state&#039;s geographical area is farmed. Punjab&#039;s over-dependence on agriculture is down to its geography and topography; it straddles the Indus river basin and is drained by three major rivers &amp;mdash; the Ravi, Beas and Sutlej, apart from other streams, including the Ghaggar, which drain the southern parts of the state.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
According to the Commission for Agriculture Costs and Prices, Punjab requires 5,337 litres of water to grow one kilogram of paddy, double of what&#039;s required in West Bengal (2,605 litres), a natural habitat of the crop. As PR Reddy, a former scientist with the National Geophysical Research Institute (NGRI), observed, &amp;quot;Neither a native plant nor suited to the agro-climatic region, paddy has pushed out maize and cotton, which were common in the pre-Green Revolution era. From 2.27 lakh hectares in 1960, the area under paddy rose to 26.12 lakh hectares by the year 2000; a growth rate of 1,050 percent.&amp;quot;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
The area under paddy cultivation had increased to 30.46 lakh hectares in 2016-17.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
Free electricity provided to farmers by the state government contributes in no small measure to the problem. Moreover, farmers say there has been little or no effort or encouragement by the state government to get them to look beyond the wheat and paddy cycle.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
Senior journalist PPS Gill agreed that Punjab was never suited to growing paddy. &amp;quot;There needs to be a study on how the area under paddy grew manifold within a few years. There needs to be a study done on whether the increase in area of paddy in Punjab was due to free electricity provided by the state government to the farmers. Also, there is a need for growing high-value and low-volume crops rather than high-volume and low-value crops in the state,&amp;quot; Gill said.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
Punjab passed the &#039;Punjab Preservation of Subsoil Water Act&#039; in 2009, which prescribed specific dates for farmers to sow nursery plants and to transplant the paddy plants into the fields. This was done to ensure that the paddy plants get enough water from the monsoon rains and there&#039;s no additional pressure on groundwater. The government fixes the date depending on the arrival of monsoon.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
Please &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.firstpost.com/india/paddy-in-punjab-part-1-over-cultivation-of-water-guzzling-rice-crop-threatens-to-deplete-states-groundwater-reserves-4619081.html&quot;&gt;click here&lt;/a&gt; to read more. &lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;/div&gt;&#039;,
	&#039;credit_writer&#039; =&gt; &#039;Firstpost.com, 30 June, 2018, https://www.firstpost.com/india/paddy-in-punjab-part-1-over-cultivation-of-water-guzzling-rice-crop-threatens-to-deplete-states-groundwater-reserves-4619081.html&#039;,
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-Firstpost.com

Chandigarh: Two years ago, Charan Singh&#039;s tubewell ran dry just before the paddy-sowing season could start. The rice farmer, who cultivates four acres of land in the Mansa district of Punjab, had been pumping water from 45 feet below the...&#039;
$disp = &#039;&lt;div align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;-Firstpost.com&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;em&gt;Chandigarh: &lt;/em&gt;Two years ago, Charan Singh&#039;s tubewell ran dry just before the paddy-sowing season could start. The rice farmer, who cultivates four acres of land in the Mansa district of Punjab, had been pumping water from 45 feet below the surface. Now he had to dig another, deeper well.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Like Charan Singh, 36, thousands of farmers across Punjab are astonished at the speed at which groundwater, their principal source of water for irrigation, is running out. Tubewells, operated with electric water pumps, are being dug ever deeper in search of a secure source of water. The cost of digging a borewell could be anything from Rs 75,000 to over Rs 1.50 lakh.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Farmers in Punjab had traditionally followed a corn-wheat or sugarcane-corn-wheat cropping pattern. But during the Green Revolution in the 1960s, they shifted to a wheat-rice pattern, which led to an increased demand for irrigation water. The indiscriminate use of groundwater for the water-guzzling paddy crop is the principal reason precious groundwater ran dry, say experts.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Anoop Nagar, director of the Central Ground Water Board&#039;s (CGWB) northwest region, says there are areas in Punjab where water is depleting at the rate of four metres per year. &amp;quot;The rate of depletion is different in different parts of the state. While it&#039;s four metres per year in some areas, it could be two metres in other areas. But the decline is rapid everywhere and we need to check it urgently,&amp;quot; he said.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Punjab has a land area of 50,362 sq.km, which constitutes 1.57 percent of the country&#039;s total area. Yet, the state contributes over half the grain procured by the central government each year. About 84 percent of the state&#039;s geographical area is farmed. Punjab&#039;s over-dependence on agriculture is down to its geography and topography; it straddles the Indus river basin and is drained by three major rivers &amp;mdash; the Ravi, Beas and Sutlej, apart from other streams, including the Ghaggar, which drain the southern parts of the state.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;According to the Commission for Agriculture Costs and Prices, Punjab requires 5,337 litres of water to grow one kilogram of paddy, double of what&#039;s required in West Bengal (2,605 litres), a natural habitat of the crop. As PR Reddy, a former scientist with the National Geophysical Research Institute (NGRI), observed, &amp;quot;Neither a native plant nor suited to the agro-climatic region, paddy has pushed out maize and cotton, which were common in the pre-Green Revolution era. From 2.27 lakh hectares in 1960, the area under paddy rose to 26.12 lakh hectares by the year 2000; a growth rate of 1,050 percent.&amp;quot;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;The area under paddy cultivation had increased to 30.46 lakh hectares in 2016-17.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Free electricity provided to farmers by the state government contributes in no small measure to the problem. Moreover, farmers say there has been little or no effort or encouragement by the state government to get them to look beyond the wheat and paddy cycle.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Senior journalist PPS Gill agreed that Punjab was never suited to growing paddy. &amp;quot;There needs to be a study on how the area under paddy grew manifold within a few years. There needs to be a study done on whether the increase in area of paddy in Punjab was due to free electricity provided by the state government to the farmers. Also, there is a need for growing high-value and low-volume crops rather than high-volume and low-value crops in the state,&amp;quot; Gill said.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Punjab passed the &#039;Punjab Preservation of Subsoil Water Act&#039; in 2009, which prescribed specific dates for farmers to sow nursery plants and to transplant the paddy plants into the fields. This was done to ensure that the paddy plants get enough water from the monsoon rains and there&#039;s no additional pressure on groundwater. The government fixes the date depending on the arrival of monsoon.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Please &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.firstpost.com/india/paddy-in-punjab-part-1-over-cultivation-of-water-guzzling-rice-crop-threatens-to-deplete-states-groundwater-reserves-4619081.html&quot; title=&quot;https://www.firstpost.com/india/paddy-in-punjab-part-1-over-cultivation-of-water-guzzling-rice-crop-threatens-to-deplete-states-groundwater-reserves-4619081.html&quot;&gt;click here&lt;/a&gt; to read more. &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&#039;
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                <strong>Over-cultivation of water-guzzling rice crop threatens to deplete state&#039;s groundwater reserves -Arjun Sharma</strong></h1>
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                <div align="justify">-Firstpost.com<br /><br /><em>Chandigarh: </em>Two years ago, Charan Singh's tubewell ran dry just before the paddy-sowing season could start. The rice farmer, who cultivates four acres of land in the Mansa district of Punjab, had been pumping water from 45 feet below the surface. Now he had to dig another, deeper well.<br /><br />Like Charan Singh, 36, thousands of farmers across Punjab are astonished at the speed at which groundwater, their principal source of water for irrigation, is running out. Tubewells, operated with electric water pumps, are being dug ever deeper in search of a secure source of water. The cost of digging a borewell could be anything from Rs 75,000 to over Rs 1.50 lakh.<br /><br />Farmers in Punjab had traditionally followed a corn-wheat or sugarcane-corn-wheat cropping pattern. But during the Green Revolution in the 1960s, they shifted to a wheat-rice pattern, which led to an increased demand for irrigation water. The indiscriminate use of groundwater for the water-guzzling paddy crop is the principal reason precious groundwater ran dry, say experts.<br /><br />Anoop Nagar, director of the Central Ground Water Board's (CGWB) northwest region, says there are areas in Punjab where water is depleting at the rate of four metres per year. &quot;The rate of depletion is different in different parts of the state. While it's four metres per year in some areas, it could be two metres in other areas. But the decline is rapid everywhere and we need to check it urgently,&quot; he said.<br /><br />Punjab has a land area of 50,362 sq.km, which constitutes 1.57 percent of the country's total area. Yet, the state contributes over half the grain procured by the central government each year. About 84 percent of the state's geographical area is farmed. Punjab's over-dependence on agriculture is down to its geography and topography; it straddles the Indus river basin and is drained by three major rivers &mdash; the Ravi, Beas and Sutlej, apart from other streams, including the Ghaggar, which drain the southern parts of the state.<br /><br />According to the Commission for Agriculture Costs and Prices, Punjab requires 5,337 litres of water to grow one kilogram of paddy, double of what's required in West Bengal (2,605 litres), a natural habitat of the crop. As PR Reddy, a former scientist with the National Geophysical Research Institute (NGRI), observed, &quot;Neither a native plant nor suited to the agro-climatic region, paddy has pushed out maize and cotton, which were common in the pre-Green Revolution era. From 2.27 lakh hectares in 1960, the area under paddy rose to 26.12 lakh hectares by the year 2000; a growth rate of 1,050 percent.&quot;<br /><br />The area under paddy cultivation had increased to 30.46 lakh hectares in 2016-17.<br /><br />Free electricity provided to farmers by the state government contributes in no small measure to the problem. Moreover, farmers say there has been little or no effort or encouragement by the state government to get them to look beyond the wheat and paddy cycle.<br /><br />Senior journalist PPS Gill agreed that Punjab was never suited to growing paddy. &quot;There needs to be a study on how the area under paddy grew manifold within a few years. There needs to be a study done on whether the increase in area of paddy in Punjab was due to free electricity provided by the state government to the farmers. Also, there is a need for growing high-value and low-volume crops rather than high-volume and low-value crops in the state,&quot; Gill said.<br /><br />Punjab passed the 'Punjab Preservation of Subsoil Water Act' in 2009, which prescribed specific dates for farmers to sow nursery plants and to transplant the paddy plants into the fields. This was done to ensure that the paddy plants get enough water from the monsoon rains and there's no additional pressure on groundwater. The government fixes the date depending on the arrival of monsoon.<br /><br />Please <a href="https://www.firstpost.com/india/paddy-in-punjab-part-1-over-cultivation-of-water-guzzling-rice-crop-threatens-to-deplete-states-groundwater-reserves-4619081.html" title="https://www.firstpost.com/india/paddy-in-punjab-part-1-over-cultivation-of-water-guzzling-rice-crop-threatens-to-deplete-states-groundwater-reserves-4619081.html">click here</a> to read more. <br /><br /></div>               </font>
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-Firstpost.com<br />
<br />
<em>Chandigarh: </em>Two years ago, Charan Singh's tubewell ran dry just before the paddy-sowing season could start. The rice farmer, who cultivates four acres of land in the Mansa district of Punjab, had been pumping water from 45 feet below the surface. Now he had to dig another, deeper well.<br />
<br />
Like Charan Singh, 36, thousands of farmers across Punjab are astonished at the speed at which groundwater, their principal source of water for irrigation, is running out. Tubewells, operated with electric water pumps, are being dug ever deeper in search of a secure source of water. The cost of digging a borewell could be anything from Rs 75,000 to over Rs 1.50 lakh.<br />
<br />
Farmers in Punjab had traditionally followed a corn-wheat or sugarcane-corn-wheat cropping pattern. But during the Green Revolution in the 1960s, they shifted to a wheat-rice pattern, which led to an increased demand for irrigation water. The indiscriminate use of groundwater for the water-guzzling paddy crop is the principal reason precious groundwater ran dry, say experts.<br />
<br />
Anoop Nagar, director of the Central Ground Water Board's (CGWB) northwest region, says there are areas in Punjab where water is depleting at the rate of four metres per year. &quot;The rate of depletion is different in different parts of the state. While it's four metres per year in some areas, it could be two metres in other areas. But the decline is rapid everywhere and we need to check it urgently,&quot; he said.<br />
<br />
Punjab has a land area of 50,362 sq.km, which constitutes 1.57 percent of the country's total area. Yet, the state contributes over half the grain procured by the central government each year. About 84 percent of the state's geographical area is farmed. Punjab's over-dependence on agriculture is down to its geography and topography; it straddles the Indus river basin and is drained by three major rivers &mdash; the Ravi, Beas and Sutlej, apart from other streams, including the Ghaggar, which drain the southern parts of the state.<br />
<br />
According to the Commission for Agriculture Costs and Prices, Punjab requires 5,337 litres of water to grow one kilogram of paddy, double of what's required in West Bengal (2,605 litres), a natural habitat of the crop. As PR Reddy, a former scientist with the National Geophysical Research Institute (NGRI), observed, &quot;Neither a native plant nor suited to the agro-climatic region, paddy has pushed out maize and cotton, which were common in the pre-Green Revolution era. From 2.27 lakh hectares in 1960, the area under paddy rose to 26.12 lakh hectares by the year 2000; a growth rate of 1,050 percent.&quot;<br />
<br />
The area under paddy cultivation had increased to 30.46 lakh hectares in 2016-17.<br />
<br />
Free electricity provided to farmers by the state government contributes in no small measure to the problem. Moreover, farmers say there has been little or no effort or encouragement by the state government to get them to look beyond the wheat and paddy cycle.<br />
<br />
Senior journalist PPS Gill agreed that Punjab was never suited to growing paddy. &quot;There needs to be a study on how the area under paddy grew manifold within a few years. There needs to be a study done on whether the increase in area of paddy in Punjab was due to free electricity provided by the state government to the farmers. Also, there is a need for growing high-value and low-volume crops rather than high-volume and low-value crops in the state,&quot; Gill said.<br />
<br />
Punjab passed the 'Punjab Preservation of Subsoil Water Act' in 2009, which prescribed specific dates for farmers to sow nursery plants and to transplant the paddy plants into the fields. This was done to ensure that the paddy plants get enough water from the monsoon rains and there's no additional pressure on groundwater. The government fixes the date depending on the arrival of monsoon.<br />
<br />
Please <a href="https://www.firstpost.com/india/paddy-in-punjab-part-1-over-cultivation-of-water-guzzling-rice-crop-threatens-to-deplete-states-groundwater-reserves-4619081.html">click here</a> to read more. <br />
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-Firstpost.com

Chandigarh: Two years ago, Charan Singh's tubewell ran dry just before the paddy-sowing season could start. The rice farmer, who cultivates four acres of land in the Mansa district of Punjab, had been pumping water from 45 feet below the...',
	'disp' => '<div align="justify">-Firstpost.com<br /><br /><em>Chandigarh: </em>Two years ago, Charan Singh's tubewell ran dry just before the paddy-sowing season could start. The rice farmer, who cultivates four acres of land in the Mansa district of Punjab, had been pumping water from 45 feet below the surface. Now he had to dig another, deeper well.<br /><br />Like Charan Singh, 36, thousands of farmers across Punjab are astonished at the speed at which groundwater, their principal source of water for irrigation, is running out. Tubewells, operated with electric water pumps, are being dug ever deeper in search of a secure source of water. The cost of digging a borewell could be anything from Rs 75,000 to over Rs 1.50 lakh.<br /><br />Farmers in Punjab had traditionally followed a corn-wheat or sugarcane-corn-wheat cropping pattern. But during the Green Revolution in the 1960s, they shifted to a wheat-rice pattern, which led to an increased demand for irrigation water. The indiscriminate use of groundwater for the water-guzzling paddy crop is the principal reason precious groundwater ran dry, say experts.<br /><br />Anoop Nagar, director of the Central Ground Water Board's (CGWB) northwest region, says there are areas in Punjab where water is depleting at the rate of four metres per year. &quot;The rate of depletion is different in different parts of the state. While it's four metres per year in some areas, it could be two metres in other areas. But the decline is rapid everywhere and we need to check it urgently,&quot; he said.<br /><br />Punjab has a land area of 50,362 sq.km, which constitutes 1.57 percent of the country's total area. Yet, the state contributes over half the grain procured by the central government each year. About 84 percent of the state's geographical area is farmed. Punjab's over-dependence on agriculture is down to its geography and topography; it straddles the Indus river basin and is drained by three major rivers &mdash; the Ravi, Beas and Sutlej, apart from other streams, including the Ghaggar, which drain the southern parts of the state.<br /><br />According to the Commission for Agriculture Costs and Prices, Punjab requires 5,337 litres of water to grow one kilogram of paddy, double of what's required in West Bengal (2,605 litres), a natural habitat of the crop. As PR Reddy, a former scientist with the National Geophysical Research Institute (NGRI), observed, &quot;Neither a native plant nor suited to the agro-climatic region, paddy has pushed out maize and cotton, which were common in the pre-Green Revolution era. From 2.27 lakh hectares in 1960, the area under paddy rose to 26.12 lakh hectares by the year 2000; a growth rate of 1,050 percent.&quot;<br /><br />The area under paddy cultivation had increased to 30.46 lakh hectares in 2016-17.<br /><br />Free electricity provided to farmers by the state government contributes in no small measure to the problem. Moreover, farmers say there has been little or no effort or encouragement by the state government to get them to look beyond the wheat and paddy cycle.<br /><br />Senior journalist PPS Gill agreed that Punjab was never suited to growing paddy. &quot;There needs to be a study on how the area under paddy grew manifold within a few years. There needs to be a study done on whether the increase in area of paddy in Punjab was due to free electricity provided by the state government to the farmers. Also, there is a need for growing high-value and low-volume crops rather than high-volume and low-value crops in the state,&quot; Gill said.<br /><br />Punjab passed the 'Punjab Preservation of Subsoil Water Act' in 2009, which prescribed specific dates for farmers to sow nursery plants and to transplant the paddy plants into the fields. This was done to ensure that the paddy plants get enough water from the monsoon rains and there's no additional pressure on groundwater. The government fixes the date depending on the arrival of monsoon.<br /><br />Please <a href="https://www.firstpost.com/india/paddy-in-punjab-part-1-over-cultivation-of-water-guzzling-rice-crop-threatens-to-deplete-states-groundwater-reserves-4619081.html" title="https://www.firstpost.com/india/paddy-in-punjab-part-1-over-cultivation-of-water-guzzling-rice-crop-threatens-to-deplete-states-groundwater-reserves-4619081.html">click here</a> to read more. <br /><br /></div>',
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-Firstpost.com<br />
<br />
<em>Chandigarh: </em>Two years ago, Charan Singh's tubewell ran dry just before the paddy-sowing season could start. The rice farmer, who cultivates four acres of land in the Mansa district of Punjab, had been pumping water from 45 feet below the surface. Now he had to dig another, deeper well.<br />
<br />
Like Charan Singh, 36, thousands of farmers across Punjab are astonished at the speed at which groundwater, their principal source of water for irrigation, is running out. Tubewells, operated with electric water pumps, are being dug ever deeper in search of a secure source of water. The cost of digging a borewell could be anything from Rs 75,000 to over Rs 1.50 lakh.<br />
<br />
Farmers in Punjab had traditionally followed a corn-wheat or sugarcane-corn-wheat cropping pattern. But during the Green Revolution in the 1960s, they shifted to a wheat-rice pattern, which led to an increased demand for irrigation water. The indiscriminate use of groundwater for the water-guzzling paddy crop is the principal reason precious groundwater ran dry, say experts.<br />
<br />
Anoop Nagar, director of the Central Ground Water Board's (CGWB) northwest region, says there are areas in Punjab where water is depleting at the rate of four metres per year. &quot;The rate of depletion is different in different parts of the state. While it's four metres per year in some areas, it could be two metres in other areas. But the decline is rapid everywhere and we need to check it urgently,&quot; he said.<br />
<br />
Punjab has a land area of 50,362 sq.km, which constitutes 1.57 percent of the country's total area. Yet, the state contributes over half the grain procured by the central government each year. About 84 percent of the state's geographical area is farmed. Punjab's over-dependence on agriculture is down to its geography and topography; it straddles the Indus river basin and is drained by three major rivers &mdash; the Ravi, Beas and Sutlej, apart from other streams, including the Ghaggar, which drain the southern parts of the state.<br />
<br />
According to the Commission for Agriculture Costs and Prices, Punjab requires 5,337 litres of water to grow one kilogram of paddy, double of what's required in West Bengal (2,605 litres), a natural habitat of the crop. As PR Reddy, a former scientist with the National Geophysical Research Institute (NGRI), observed, &quot;Neither a native plant nor suited to the agro-climatic region, paddy has pushed out maize and cotton, which were common in the pre-Green Revolution era. From 2.27 lakh hectares in 1960, the area under paddy rose to 26.12 lakh hectares by the year 2000; a growth rate of 1,050 percent.&quot;<br />
<br />
The area under paddy cultivation had increased to 30.46 lakh hectares in 2016-17.<br />
<br />
Free electricity provided to farmers by the state government contributes in no small measure to the problem. Moreover, farmers say there has been little or no effort or encouragement by the state government to get them to look beyond the wheat and paddy cycle.<br />
<br />
Senior journalist PPS Gill agreed that Punjab was never suited to growing paddy. &quot;There needs to be a study on how the area under paddy grew manifold within a few years. There needs to be a study done on whether the increase in area of paddy in Punjab was due to free electricity provided by the state government to the farmers. Also, there is a need for growing high-value and low-volume crops rather than high-volume and low-value crops in the state,&quot; Gill said.<br />
<br />
Punjab passed the 'Punjab Preservation of Subsoil Water Act' in 2009, which prescribed specific dates for farmers to sow nursery plants and to transplant the paddy plants into the fields. This was done to ensure that the paddy plants get enough water from the monsoon rains and there's no additional pressure on groundwater. The government fixes the date depending on the arrival of monsoon.<br />
<br />
Please <a href="https://www.firstpost.com/india/paddy-in-punjab-part-1-over-cultivation-of-water-guzzling-rice-crop-threatens-to-deplete-states-groundwater-reserves-4619081.html">click here</a> to read more. <br />
<br />
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$metaTitle = 'LATEST NEWS UPDATES | Over-cultivation of water-guzzling rice crop threatens to deplete state&#039;s groundwater reserves -Arjun Sharma'
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-Firstpost.com

Chandigarh: Two years ago, Charan Singh's tubewell ran dry just before the paddy-sowing season could start. The rice farmer, who cultivates four acres of land in the Mansa district of Punjab, had been pumping water from 45 feet below the...'
$disp = '<div align="justify">-Firstpost.com<br /><br /><em>Chandigarh: </em>Two years ago, Charan Singh's tubewell ran dry just before the paddy-sowing season could start. The rice farmer, who cultivates four acres of land in the Mansa district of Punjab, had been pumping water from 45 feet below the surface. Now he had to dig another, deeper well.<br /><br />Like Charan Singh, 36, thousands of farmers across Punjab are astonished at the speed at which groundwater, their principal source of water for irrigation, is running out. Tubewells, operated with electric water pumps, are being dug ever deeper in search of a secure source of water. The cost of digging a borewell could be anything from Rs 75,000 to over Rs 1.50 lakh.<br /><br />Farmers in Punjab had traditionally followed a corn-wheat or sugarcane-corn-wheat cropping pattern. But during the Green Revolution in the 1960s, they shifted to a wheat-rice pattern, which led to an increased demand for irrigation water. The indiscriminate use of groundwater for the water-guzzling paddy crop is the principal reason precious groundwater ran dry, say experts.<br /><br />Anoop Nagar, director of the Central Ground Water Board's (CGWB) northwest region, says there are areas in Punjab where water is depleting at the rate of four metres per year. &quot;The rate of depletion is different in different parts of the state. While it's four metres per year in some areas, it could be two metres in other areas. But the decline is rapid everywhere and we need to check it urgently,&quot; he said.<br /><br />Punjab has a land area of 50,362 sq.km, which constitutes 1.57 percent of the country's total area. Yet, the state contributes over half the grain procured by the central government each year. About 84 percent of the state's geographical area is farmed. Punjab's over-dependence on agriculture is down to its geography and topography; it straddles the Indus river basin and is drained by three major rivers &mdash; the Ravi, Beas and Sutlej, apart from other streams, including the Ghaggar, which drain the southern parts of the state.<br /><br />According to the Commission for Agriculture Costs and Prices, Punjab requires 5,337 litres of water to grow one kilogram of paddy, double of what's required in West Bengal (2,605 litres), a natural habitat of the crop. As PR Reddy, a former scientist with the National Geophysical Research Institute (NGRI), observed, &quot;Neither a native plant nor suited to the agro-climatic region, paddy has pushed out maize and cotton, which were common in the pre-Green Revolution era. From 2.27 lakh hectares in 1960, the area under paddy rose to 26.12 lakh hectares by the year 2000; a growth rate of 1,050 percent.&quot;<br /><br />The area under paddy cultivation had increased to 30.46 lakh hectares in 2016-17.<br /><br />Free electricity provided to farmers by the state government contributes in no small measure to the problem. Moreover, farmers say there has been little or no effort or encouragement by the state government to get them to look beyond the wheat and paddy cycle.<br /><br />Senior journalist PPS Gill agreed that Punjab was never suited to growing paddy. &quot;There needs to be a study on how the area under paddy grew manifold within a few years. There needs to be a study done on whether the increase in area of paddy in Punjab was due to free electricity provided by the state government to the farmers. Also, there is a need for growing high-value and low-volume crops rather than high-volume and low-value crops in the state,&quot; Gill said.<br /><br />Punjab passed the 'Punjab Preservation of Subsoil Water Act' in 2009, which prescribed specific dates for farmers to sow nursery plants and to transplant the paddy plants into the fields. This was done to ensure that the paddy plants get enough water from the monsoon rains and there's no additional pressure on groundwater. The government fixes the date depending on the arrival of monsoon.<br /><br />Please <a href="https://www.firstpost.com/india/paddy-in-punjab-part-1-over-cultivation-of-water-guzzling-rice-crop-threatens-to-deplete-states-groundwater-reserves-4619081.html" title="https://www.firstpost.com/india/paddy-in-punjab-part-1-over-cultivation-of-water-guzzling-rice-crop-threatens-to-deplete-states-groundwater-reserves-4619081.html">click here</a> to read more. <br /><br /></div>'
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Over-cultivation of water-guzzling rice crop threatens to deplete state's groundwater reserves -Arjun Sharma

-Firstpost.com Chandigarh: Two years ago, Charan Singh's tubewell ran dry just before the paddy-sowing season could start. The rice farmer, who cultivates four acres of land in the Mansa district of Punjab, had been pumping water from 45 feet below the surface. Now he had to dig another, deeper well. Like Charan Singh, 36, thousands of farmers across Punjab are astonished at the speed at which groundwater, their principal source of water for irrigation, is running out. Tubewells, operated with electric water pumps, are being dug ever deeper in search of a secure source of water. The cost of digging a borewell could be anything from Rs 75,000 to over Rs 1.50 lakh. Farmers in Punjab had traditionally followed a corn-wheat or sugarcane-corn-wheat cropping pattern. But during the Green Revolution in the 1960s, they shifted to a wheat-rice pattern, which led to an increased demand for irrigation water. The indiscriminate use of groundwater for the water-guzzling paddy crop is the principal reason precious groundwater ran dry, say experts. Anoop Nagar, director of the Central Ground Water Board's (CGWB) northwest region, says there are areas in Punjab where water is depleting at the rate of four metres per year. "The rate of depletion is different in different parts of the state. While it's four metres per year in some areas, it could be two metres in other areas. But the decline is rapid everywhere and we need to check it urgently," he said. Punjab has a land area of 50,362 sq.km, which constitutes 1.57 percent of the country's total area. Yet, the state contributes over half the grain procured by the central government each year. About 84 percent of the state's geographical area is farmed. Punjab's over-dependence on agriculture is down to its geography and topography; it straddles the Indus river basin and is drained by three major rivers — the Ravi, Beas and Sutlej, apart from other streams, including the Ghaggar, which drain the southern parts of the state. According to the Commission for Agriculture Costs and Prices, Punjab requires 5,337 litres of water to grow one kilogram of paddy, double of what's required in West Bengal (2,605 litres), a natural habitat of the crop. As PR Reddy, a former scientist with the National Geophysical Research Institute (NGRI), observed, "Neither a native plant nor suited to the agro-climatic region, paddy has pushed out maize and cotton, which were common in the pre-Green Revolution era. From 2.27 lakh hectares in 1960, the area under paddy rose to 26.12 lakh hectares by the year 2000; a growth rate of 1,050 percent." The area under paddy cultivation had increased to 30.46 lakh hectares in 2016-17. Free electricity provided to farmers by the state government contributes in no small measure to the problem. Moreover, farmers say there has been little or no effort or encouragement by the state government to get them to look beyond the wheat and paddy cycle. Senior journalist PPS Gill agreed that Punjab was never suited to growing paddy. "There needs to be a study on how the area under paddy grew manifold within a few years. There needs to be a study done on whether the increase in area of paddy in Punjab was due to free electricity provided by the state government to the farmers. Also, there is a need for growing high-value and low-volume crops rather than high-volume and low-value crops in the state," Gill said. Punjab passed the 'Punjab Preservation of Subsoil Water Act' in 2009, which prescribed specific dates for farmers to sow nursery plants and to transplant the paddy plants into the fields. This was done to ensure that the paddy plants get enough water from the monsoon rains and there's no additional pressure on groundwater. The government fixes the date depending on the arrival of monsoon. Please click here to read more.