{"id":20128266,"date":"2024-02-22T23:02:18","date_gmt":"2024-02-22T17:32:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.thethirdpole.net\/?p=128266"},"modified":"2024-04-11T14:52:18","modified_gmt":"2024-04-11T14:52:18","slug":"analysis-as-farmers-protest-india-must-urgently-deal-with-its-water-crisis","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/water\/analysis-as-farmers-protest-india-must-urgently-deal-with-its-water-crisis\/","title":{"rendered":"Analysis: As farmers protest, India must urgently deal with its water crisis"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"has-drop-cap\">As farmers once again protest in India \u2013 three years on from the <a href=\"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/food\/climate-crisis-is-foundation-of-indian-farmers-protests\/\">biggest peaceful civil society protest in the world<\/a> \u2013 it is worth remembering that agriculture was also a critical issue for the nation in its first decades. The country\u2019s first prime minister, Jawaharlal Nehru, bluntly stated that \u201ceverything can wait, but not agriculture.\u201d This line of thinking eventually led to the Green Revolution of the late 1960s, forging India\u2019s food security and providing much-needed revenue for some of its farmers. But back in the present, a looming water crisis has returned Indian agriculture to the spotlight.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-farmers-grievances\">Farmers\u2019 grievances<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>The Green Revolution harnessed high-yield grain varieties, water-intensive practices (largely reliant on pumped groundwater) and heavy fertiliser use. Understanding that such investments would not be made by farmers without a guaranteed market, the Indian government also <a href=\"https:\/\/indianexpress.com\/article\/explained\/what-is-the-basis-of-msp-6609668\/\">created<\/a> a minimum support price (MSP) for wheat in 1966-67. This set a base price for government procurement at a certain percentage above input costs, and therefore guaranteed farmers an assured buyer: even if the majority of the crop was not bought by the government, the MSP set a floor price for other buyers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Today, the MSP regime covers 23 crops: varieties of cereals, pulses and some cash crops like sugarcane and cotton. It has been very successful in incentivising food production. So, instead of having to import grain as was the case before the Green Revolution, by 2017 India <a href=\"https:\/\/eands.da.gov.in\/PDF\/At%20a%20Glance%202019%20Eng.pdf\">was<\/a> the world&#8217;s largest producer of pulses and jute and the second-largest producer of wheat, rice and sugarcane.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>But only the MSP for sugarcane is guaranteed <a href=\"https:\/\/www.indiacode.nic.in\/bitstream\/123456789\/7053\/1\/essential_commodities_act_1955.pdf\">under<\/a> the Essential Commodities Act of 1955; at their heart, the most recent farmers\u2019 protests in India are a call for the entire MSP regime to be <a href=\"https:\/\/www.downtoearth.org.in\/news\/agriculture\/farmers-reject-centre-s-new-msp-proposal-demand-guarantee-for-all-23-crops-94546\">legalised<\/a>. To many Indian farmers, this is the only guarantee of some level of financial security. However, the gains of the Green Revolution and the MSP regime (in its current form) are currently being undone by a series of challenges, including water.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-finite-resources-pushed-to-the-brink\">Finite resources pushed to the brink<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>In 19th-century India, the British viceroy Lord Curzon described the Indian economy as \u201ca gamble on the monsoons\u201d. When India began extracting its groundwater this issue faded, but new challenges were created. India is now the <a href=\"https:\/\/unesdoc.unesco.org\/ark:\/48223\/pf0000380721\/PDF\/380721eng.pdf.multi\">biggest<\/a> user of groundwater in the world and water levels across India have <a href=\"https:\/\/cgwb.gov.in\/ground-water-resource-assessment-0\">plummeted<\/a> accordingly: in 2022, the condition of 12% of India\u2019s aquifers were categorised by the government as \u201csemi-critical\u201d; 4% as \u201ccritical\u201d; and 14% as \u201coverexploited\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<a class=\"wp-block-cd-related-news alignright block--related-news loading\" data-post-id=\"20083086\"><div class=\"block--related-news__image\"><\/div><div class=\"block--related-news__content\"><span class=\"block--related-news__heading\">Recommended<\/span><span class=\"block--related-news__title\"><\/span><\/div><\/a>\n\n\n\n<p>With <a href=\"https:\/\/cgwb.gov.in\/ground-water-resource-assessment-0\">87%<\/a> of extracted groundwater in India used for irrigation, the future looks bleak. A 2019 Indian government report <a href=\"https:\/\/www.bbc.com\/news\/business-61965419\">estimated<\/a> that <a href=\"https:\/\/www.niti.gov.in\/sites\/default\/files\/2019-08\/CWMI-2.0-latest.pdf\">74%<\/a> of the area where wheat is cultivated, and 65% of the area where rice is grown, will face water shortages. The most severely impacted parts of India are the semi-arid zones in its north-western region, where the planting of wheat and paddy (which form the bulk of government procurement) is the most intense. This is where most of the protesting farmers come from.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The over-extraction of groundwater has also led to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.mdpi.com\/2073-4441\/15\/23\/4125\">higher<\/a> concentrations of arsenic. This has <a href=\"https:\/\/pib.gov.in\/PressReleaseIframePage.aspx?PRID=1809264\">triggered<\/a> long-running health crises in states including Punjab, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar and <a href=\"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/pollution\/arsenic-laced-water-kills-over-one-million-in-indias-ganga-basin\/\">West Bengal<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Lastly, this focus on a limited range of crops means the vast majority of indigenous seeds are <a href=\"https:\/\/journalofethnicfoods.biomedcentral.com\/articles\/10.1186\/s42779-019-0011-9\">disappearing<\/a>. And that threatens a future for India in which it may be dependent on just a few types of seeds.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-a-larger-water-crisis-impacts-agriculture\">A larger water crisis impacts agriculture<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>All of this is happening in the context of a challenging water future. India\u2019s population number has taken off since independence, but its water resources remain the same. Water availability is estimated to be under <a href=\"https:\/\/pib.gov.in\/PressReleasePage.aspx?PRID=1606099\">1,486<\/a> cubic metres per person, which is alarming given that 1,700 cubic metres is usually considered the benchmark for water stress.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Meanwhile, the latest report on the Himalayan region by the International Centre for Integrated Mountain Development (ICIMOD) <a href=\"https:\/\/hkh.icimod.org\/hi-wise\/hi-wise-report\/\">estimates<\/a> the region will hit \u201cpeak water\u201d by 2050, after which water availability will decline.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-inadequate-government-response\">Inadequate government response<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>The Green Revolution was conceptualised at a time when India had far less resources to understand its water needs, but half a century later, the government has nothing new to offer.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>In September 2020, it passed three farm laws that were <a href=\"https:\/\/prsindia.org\/billtrack\/the-farm-laws-repeal-bill-2021\">repealed<\/a> in November 2021. The laws pushed for greater market access, contract farming, and less regulation of essential commodities. They did not guarantee MSPs and in response, a number of state governments <a href=\"https:\/\/prsindia.org\/theprsblog\/comparison-of-the-2020-central-farm-laws-with-the-amendments-proposed-by-states\">passed<\/a> laws that <em>did <\/em>guarantee MSPs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<a class=\"wp-block-cd-related-news alignright block--related-news loading\" data-post-id=\"20118776\"><div class=\"block--related-news__image\"><\/div><div class=\"block--related-news__content\"><span class=\"block--related-news__heading\">Recommended<\/span><span class=\"block--related-news__title\"><\/span><\/div><\/a>\n\n\n\n<p>The weakening of the MSP regime was seen as an additional threat to the financial security of farmers, who are already dealing with lowered water tables, climate-induced floods and drought exacerbation, fluctuating monsoons and degraded soils from excessive fertiliser use \u2013 while these laws might have lowered procurement costs for the government, they did nothing to deal with the farming community\u2019s myriad water issues.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>As the agricultural expert Devinder Sharma points out, farmers currently earn about <a href=\"https:\/\/thewire.in\/agriculture\/watch-only-a-legally-binding-msp-can-really-help-farmers-weve-tried-all-permutations-and-combinations\">INR 27<\/a> (USD 0.33) per day from farming: they need more support, not less.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>India gained independence in the wake of the Bengal famine in 1943, in which <a href=\"https:\/\/www.theguardian.com\/world\/2019\/mar\/29\/winston-churchill-policies-contributed-to-1943-bengal-famine-study\">millions<\/a> starved to death. Today, <a href=\"https:\/\/pib.gov.in\/PressReleasePage.aspx?PRID=1601902\">hundreds<\/a> of millions reliant on agriculture face a catastrophic future as water availability dwindles. The government should know by now that everything can wait, but not agriculture.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Indian farmers are pushing for the legalisation of an historic pricing mechanism that built India\u2019s food security, but the problems they face demand far more <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2194,"featured_media":20128273,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[50039903],"tags":[502,50040317,546],"hashtags":[],"country":[20000111],"class_list":["post-20128266","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-water","tag-activism","tag-farming","tag-food-security","country-india"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v26.0 (Yoast SEO v26.0) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Analysis: As farmers protest, India must 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200 kilometers (120 miles) from New Delhi, India, Wednesday, Feb.21, 2024. The protesting farmers began their march last week, but their efforts to reach the city have been blocked by authorities. (AP Photo\/Altaf Qadri)"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/water\/analysis-as-farmers-protest-india-must-urgently-deal-with-its-water-crisis\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Analysis: As farmers protest, India must urgently deal with its water crisis"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/#website","url":"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/","name":"Dialogue Earth","description":"Global climate and environment news","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/#organization","name":"\u5bf9\u8bdd\u5730\u7403","url":"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en","@id":"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/content\/uploads\/2024\/04\/Dialogue-Earth-Symbol-Logo_Black-Text.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/content\/uploads\/2024\/04\/Dialogue-Earth-Symbol-Logo_Black-Text.png","width":256,"height":256,"caption":"\u5bf9\u8bdd\u5730\u7403"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/twitter.com\/DialogueEarth_","","https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/DialogueEarth.English","https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/dialogue.earth\/","https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/company\/dialogueearth\/"],"publishingPrinciples":"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/about\/"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/#\/schema\/person\/9a848773a1a37281aebe783ad3fcd5b2","name":"Omair Ahmad","description":"Omair Ahmad is South Asia editor of thethirdpole.net.","url":"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/author\/omairahmad\/","sameAs":["https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/author\/omairahmad\/"]}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20128266","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2194"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=20128266"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20128266\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":60004109,"href":"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20128266\/revisions\/60004109"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/20128273"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=20128266"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=20128266"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=20128266"},{"taxonomy":"hashtags","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/hashtags?post=20128266"},{"taxonomy":"country","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/country?post=20128266"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}