Climatic variability and its impact on rice and wheat productivity in Punjab

The annual and seasonal (kharif and rabi seasons) trends in temperature (maximum and minimum) and rainfall during 30 years (1986 to 2015) at five locations of Punjab (Bathinda, Faridkot, Ludhiana, SBS Nagar and Patiala) has been analysed. The study revealed that during the last three decades most of the stations experienced significant increase in maximum as well as minimum temperatures in both kharif and rabi seasons. In kharif season maximum temperature positively deviated by 0.12°C to 1.34°C whereas in wheat growing period the deviation results was from 0.13°C to 0.93°C at all the locations. The rainfall during kharif season has decreased by 23.2, 27.6, 55.4, 185.4 and 199.6 mm from normal at Bathinda, Faridkot, Ludhiana, SBS Nagar and Patiala districts, respectively in last three decades. Mann Kendall statistics showed increasing trend in maximum temperature and highlighted that the trend was highly significant in Faridkot, SBS Nagar and Patiala district. To know the impact of climate change quadratic form of regression was applied and the results revealed that the increase in minimum temperature during kharif and rabi season has negative effect on yield of rice and wheat crop in Punjab

Pre and Post Water Level Behaviour in Punjab: Impact Analysis with DiD Approach

Punjab Agriculture is trapped in the complex nexus of groundwater depletion and food insecurity. The policymakers are concerned about reducing groundwater extraction at any cost for irrigation without jeopardizing food security. In this regard, the Government of Punjab introduced the “Punjab Preservation of Subsoil Water Act, 2009”. The present paper examines the impact of the “Preservation of Sub Soil Water Act, 2009” on pre- and post-water levels in Punjab using the difference-in-difference (DiD) approach. The state has witnessed a severe fall of 0.50 m per year and 0.43 m per year for the post-monsoon and pre-monsoon season, respectively. Only 2.62 per cent of wells were in the range of 20–40 m depth in the state in 1996, which increased to 42 per cent and 67 per cent in 2018 for the pre-monsoon period, and post monsoon period respectively, depicting an increase of 25 times. The groundwater depth in high rice-growing(treated) districts declined by 1.53 and 1.39 m than the low rice-growing (control) districts in the pre-monsoon and post-monsoon periods respectively post the enactment of PPSW Act, 2009. A groundwater governance framework is urgently needed to manage the existing and future challenges connected with the groundwater resource

Quantifying the energy use efficiency and greenhouse gas emissions in Punjab (India) agriculture

It is inevitable to acknowledge the greenhouse gas emissions (GHGE)’s primary role in the planet's rising temperatures, which poses threat to ecosystem's sustainability. In India, a 18% of the total GHGE comes from agriculture. Agricultural systems, being complex, need highly efficient energy usage to ensure better yields, and hence, farmer income and food security. Within India, Punjab is the state with greatest agro-economic impact. Therefore, present study is an attempt to quantify the GHGE and energy use efficiency (EUE) in major crops (cotton, maize, paddy, wheat, and sugarcane) of Punjab based on 2019–2020 data. Results revealed that the direct energy and non-renewable energy contribution significantly exceeded the indirect energy and renewable energy, in all crops except sugarcane. Electricity and fertilizers were noted as key areas for energy sink for all crops studied. The specific energy based on economic yield was realized to be significantly higher in cotton (10.23 MJ Kg−1), followed by paddy (5.28 MJ Kg−1), and less than 5 MJ Kg−1 for other crops. High energy intensity indicates that there exists a better potential for further improvement in the energy productivity of cropping systems. In terms of total input-output energy, net energy gain and EUE, sugarcane was noted to be at the top, followed by paddy among other seasonal crops. Paddy was found to emit the highest CO2 eq. emissions (6718 kg CO2 eq. ha−1) of all crops and around 60% was contributed solely by methane (CH4) due to paddy cultivation in submerged water. Thus, optimizing fertilizer rates, precisely guided irrigation systems, adoption of resource conservation technologies (RCTs) i.e., DSR, Laser leveling, minimizing crop residue burning, and using them for energy supply are among best possible alternatives for improving EUE and reducing GHGE