1Department of Soil and Water Engineering, Punjab Agricultural University, Ludhiana, Punjab, India
2Department of Economics and Sociology, Punjab Agricultural University, Ludhiana, Punjab, India
The energy consumption patterns of agriculture in central Punjab have changed enormously during the past two decades. This study investigates on how the declining groundwater levels and increased groundwater usage has influenced the energy requirements for irrigation, in Central Punjab. The increased groundwater use by 386.4 mm in last 15 years (1998- 2013) has resulted in rapid decline of groundwater levels from 9.15 to 18.03m in Central Punjab. Consequently, the energy requirement had increased by 4845.1 MkWh (90%), since 1998. Blocks Bhawanigarh, Sangrur and Sunam were identified as the critical blocks of central Punjab and should be targeted for groundwater management and to reduce energy crisis. The study also elucidates that for each meter fall of groundwater level in central Punjab, there is additional energy requirement of 18.05 Wh/m3 of groundwater extracted causing an economic loss of 33.2 million Indian rupees.
Energy consumption, Groundwater levels, Groundwater usage, Groundwater pumping, Central Punjab
