Groundwater irrigation and farm power policies in Punjab and West Bengal: Challenges and opportunities

This paper presents the contrasting picture of groundwater irrigation, agricultural growth and farm electricity consumption in Punjab and West Bengal. While Punjab, a semi-arid, groundwater depleted state continues to follow water intensive rice-wheat cropping pattern assisted with free farm power since 1997; West Bengal, a groundwater abundant state became the first state to vigorously meter its electric tubewells with a flat-cummetered tariff since 2011. At present, Punjab aims to reduce subsidies by rationing farm power supply but assists farmers with minimum support price to sustain their farm incomes. West Bengal experienced a major boost in rice cultivation in the eighties with the spread of shallow-tubewells. Contrary to the optimistic predictions of boost in boro rice cultivation with the introduction of liberalised policy of new tubewell permits, Bengal could not unleash the untapped potential of groundwater irrigation. Though the number of tubewells increased manifold, the increasing tariff of volumetric electricity pricing did not lead to any major boost to groundwater irrigation. Bengal the leading rice growing state in India needs an appropriate power policy along with conducive procurement infrastructure so that it can provide better farm incomes to the rice farmers and in the long run can take the pressure off from north western India which is burdened with chronic groundwater depletion on account of intensive rice cultivation.