The Story 

If you’ve ever seen a paddy field, you’ve probably noticed it looks like it was flooded the night before.

That’s because rice fields stay waterlogged for most of the cultivation season. Farmers flood them before sowing to help roots establish and then maintain just enough standing water throughout the crop cycle to support growth and suppress weeds. It’s only a week or two before harvest that they finally let the fields dry to make the harvesting easier.

Now don’t worry – this isn’t a crash course on farming. We just wanted you to picture those flooded fields to truly grasp just how water-intensive rice cultivation is. 

And that brings us to today’s story.

Punjab’s farmers have relied on paddy cultivation for decades, and Basmati – the crown jewel of the rice family – is their prized crop. With its long, slender grains, rich aroma, and non-mushy texture, it’s a global favourite. In fact, nearly 70% of this premium rice is exported to just five West Asian nations—Iran, Saudi Arabia, Iraq, the UAE, and Yemen. And demand has been so strong that Basmati exports have surged over 37 times in the last three decades!

The interesting bit? Well, India supplies nearly 75% of the world’s Basmati rice and Punjab is a key contributor, accounting for almost 40% of India’s exports. So it’s no wonder that the state fetches top dollar for farmers. Yet, the paradox is that farmers aren’t exactly celebrating. As one Punjab farmer puts it: “We’re stuck with rice.”

So if Basmati is such a money-spinner, what’s the problem, you ask?

Well, its success has come at a steep price and the price is that Punjab’s groundwater is vanishing at an alarming rate.

With export requirements growing rapidly, Punjab has ramped up production. But to do that, farmers have been pumping groundwater at unsustainable levels. For perspective, Punjab’s Stage of Groundwater Extraction (SoE) is a staggering 163.76%. This means people are taking out about 1.6 times more water than nature can restore. And if things don’t change, Punjab could run out of drinking water in just 30 years at this rate. Some experts even say that it could happen sooner—in just 15 years!

The genesis of this crisis traces back to the Green Revolution of the 1960s and 1970s, when the government incentivised rice and wheat cultivation to make India self-reliant in food grain production. And Punjab quickly jumped on the bandwagon and became an agricultural powerhouse. And this wasn’t a bad thing at all. But it became troublesome when, over time, the entire farming ecosystem became heavily skewed towards monoculture–which in essence was just the cultivation of a rice-wheat cycle. And that is currently at the heart of Punjab’s agricultural problems.

The issue was exacerbated when the state government offered subsidised electricity, giving farmers a free hand to pump as much water from underground aquifers as they pleased.

Now, Punjab already has a well-connected river and canal system. But if farmers have access to groundwater right beneath their fields—and that too for free, with lesser transportation costs, along with subsidised electricity for pumping—what could be better than that, right? And that’s why farmers preferred groundwater.

To add to this, there was a minimum support price (MSP) for both wheat and paddy, ensuring assured returns for farmers. And although Basmati doesn’t have an MSP, it is a premium-quality rice meant for export. So naturally, farmers were lured to sow it because of the higher returns.

So yeah, that’s the background.

And while declining rainfall has also played a role in depleting groundwater, farming practices haven’t helped. A Down to Earth report highlights how farmers actively prevent rainwater from seeping into the soil, and instead, they trap it for paddy fields.

Now it’s not like the government hasn’t intervened to placate the problem. The Punjab government promoted direct seeding of rice and even offered ₹1500 per acre to farmers who adopted it. But unfortunately, it didn’t taste any success as the farmers reported there was hardly any water saved in this farming technique.

Switching to alternative crops like maize or pulses didn’t seem easy either. The entire ecosystem—from infrastructure to procurement policies—has been designed around rice and wheat for decades. Even if farmers switch, they simply won’t earn as much. And while these alternative crops could save Punjab’s water, the economics, infrastructure, and policies still heavily favour rice and wheat cultivation.

So, what’s the fix?

By now you know that at the heart of Punjab’s water, rice, and even Basmati crisis is one major factor—excessive groundwater extraction for paddy cultivation. And if we don’t address it soon, we’re heading towards an ecological disaster.

One solution is volumetric pricing. The idea here revolves around the concept of charging for groundwater based on actual usage. The logic is simple: when water has a cost, people use it wisely. But implementing this isn’t easy. Political hurdles, enforcement challenges, and the need for proper infrastructure make it a tough sell.

That’s where Israel offers an interesting case study. Over the years, it has transformed its water management through centralised planning, real pricing, strict regulations, public awareness campaigns, seawater desalination, and near-total wastewater recycling.

Back in the 1980s, Israeli farms consumed 72% of the country’s freshwater supply. But instead of simply reducing consumption, Israel repurposed wastewater. By 2015, it was treating and recycling 86% of its wastewater for agriculture—a figure that now stands at 96%, making Israel a global leader in water reclamation.

Their pricing model is designed to encourage conservation. Farmers receive a base quota at reasonable rates, but excessive use triggers steep penalties. Plus, tariffs vary based on water quality, making recycled wastewater a more attractive choice. The result is smarter water use without restricting production.

Closer home, there are promising innovations too. Former IAS officer Kahan Singh Pannu has been testing the Seeding of Rice on Beds (SRB) technique, where paddy is grown on raised beds with controlled irrigation instead of standing water. This method reduces water consumption by 30-40% compared to traditional techniques. 

Even minor adjustments can yield big results. Delaying rice transplantation by just a day after June 10 across 30 lakh hectares could slow groundwater depletion by nearly 1.5 cm. And renovating Punjab’s 12,000 underutilised ponds could help recharge groundwater by 6 cm a year.

So, the solutions are there. What’s needed is collective will, cooperation and shared responsibility. If farmers, policymakers, and entire communities work together to implement them, we can surely catch lightning in a bottle. And if that happens, Punjab can strike a balance between sustaining Basmati’s legacy and safeguarding its water for the future.

After all, Basmati is a treasure. The challenge is ensuring its production thrives—without Punjab running dry.

Published Date: March 13, 2025