WATERLOGGING AND FARMLAND SALINISATION: CAUSES … · WATERLOGGING AND FARMLAND SALINISATION: CAUSES AND REMEDIAL ... de riz avec zone réduite ... de la nappe phréatique vers le

IRRIGATION AND DRAINAGE

Irrig. and Drain. (2012)

Published online in Wiley Online Library (wileyonlinelibrary.com) DOI: 10.1002/ird.651

WATERLOGGING AND FARMLAND SALINISATION: CAUSES AND REMEDIALMEASURES IN AN IRRIGATED SEMI-ARID REGION OF INDIAΨ

AJAY SINGH1, SUDHINDRA NATH PANDA2*, WOLFGANG-ALBERT FLUGEL3 AND PETER KRAUSE3

1Agricultural and Food Engineering Department, Indian Institute of Technology, Kharagpur, India2School of Water Resources, Indian Institute of Technology, Kharagpur, India

3Departments of Geoinformatics, Hydrology and Modelling, Friedrich–Schiller University, Jena, Germany

ABSTRACT

Waterlogging and secondary salinisation have become serious problems in canal irrigated areas of arid and semi-arid regions.This study examined hydrology and estimated the seasonal net groundwater recharge of an irrigated semi-arid region located inthe Haryana State of India where about 500 000 ha area are waterlogged and unproductive, and the size of the waterlogged areais increasing, causing a threat to agricultural sustainability. Groundwater recharge analysis during the study period (1989–2010) revealed that percolation from irrigated fields was the main recharge component, with 48% contributing to total recharge.An annual groundwater table rise of 0.198m was estimated for the study area. Since the groundwater table had been risingcontinuously, suitable water management strategies such as as conjunctive use of groundwater and canal water and changesin crop patterns by reducing rice crop areas against of other low-water crops such as sorghum are suggested to bring thegroundwater table down to a safe limit and prevent further rise of the groundwater table. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley &Sons, Ltd.

key words: waterlogging; groundwater recharge; water management; semi-arid regions; sustainable agriculture; socio-economic issues

Received 16 May 2011; Revised 17 July 2011; Accepted 17 July 2011

RÉSUMÉ

Engorgement et la salinisation secondaire sont devenus un sérieux problème dans les zones irriguèes du canal des régions arideset semi-arides. Nous analysons l’hydrologie et l’estimation de la recharge des eaux souterraines saisonniers net d’une irriguéesrégion semi-aride située dans l’Etat de Haryana en Inde, où environ 500,000 ha sont gorgés d’eau espace et improductives et lataille de la zone gorgé d’eau augmente, entraînant une menace pour la pérennité de l’agriculture. Analyse de la recharge deseaux souterraines pendant la période d’étude (1989–2010) révéle que la percolation des champs irrigués est la composanteprincipale de recharge avec une contribution de 48% à la recharge totale. Une hausse annuelle des eaux souterraines table de0,198m a été estimée pour la zone d’étude. Comme la nappe phréatique a été en constante augmentation, des stratégiesappropriées de gestion de l’eau tels que les eaux souterraines augmente de pompage, et le changement de système de culturede riz avec zone réduite par rapport aux autres basses eaux cultures nécessitant tels que «le sorgho sont suggéré d’apporterde la nappe phréatique vers le bas pour une limite de sécurité et pour prévenir d’autres montante de la nappe phréatique.Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

mots clés: engorgement; temps de recharge des eaux souterraines; gestion de l’eau; régions semi-arides; agriculture durable; questions socio-économiques

INTRODUCTION

Good quality resources of soil and water are limited in aridand semi-arid regions. Furthermore, they experience gradual

* Correspondence to: Sudhindra Nath Panda, School of Water Resources,Indian Institute of Technology, Kharagpur, India. E-mail: [email protected], [email protected]ΨEngorgement et salinisation des terres agricoles: causes et mesures correc-tives dans une région semi-aride irriguée de l’Inde

Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

degradation (Singh and Panda, 2012). In addition, crop pro-duction needs to be maintained using such degradedresources in order to provide food for the burgeoning globalpopulation (Bouwer, 2000; De Fraiture and Wichelns,2010), which is expected to increase by another 2.25 billionpeople before levelling off at around 9.25 billion by 2050(United Nations, 2008). Irrigation is essential in arid andsemi-arid regions, since annual precipitation in these areas

AJAY SINGH ET AL.

is too little, too erratic, and too poorly distributed to ensureharvestable crops. However, water transportation from out-side of the natural hydrological cycle causes twin menace ofwaterlogging and soil salinisation (Singh, 2010). For instance,more than 33% of the world’s irrigated land is affected by sec-ondary salinisation and/or waterlogging (Heuperman et al.2002). In India alone, 8.4 Mha (million hectares) are affectedby soil salinity and alkalinity, of which about 5.5 Mha arewaterlogged.

Due to the ‘Green Revolution’ in India during 1970s,there was a continuous expansion of farmland and dual crop-ping on existing farmlands occurred in the northwest of thecountry, particularly in the states of Haryana and Punjab. Thisgenerated the need for more canal water for irrigation as rain-fall in the area is not sufficient to satisfy crop water demands.Here the groundwater table started rising and caused water-logging in the western and central parts of Haryana State, in-cluding the Rohtak and Jhajjar districts where groundwater isof poor quality (Groundwater Cell, 2008a). An estimated 500000 ha of Haryana state are waterlogged. In addition, theproblem is spreading in more canal-irrigated areas and creat-ing hydrologic imbalances. A large part of these problems areattributable to poor water management of canals and fieldsunder large-scale canal irrigation systems. Water losses fromunlined canal networks, absence of natural drainage, percola-tion from irrigation fields, and under exploitation of salinegroundwater are the specific factors contributing to this phe-nomenon. Both endangered sustainability of irrigated agricul-ture and growing scarcity of good quality water dictate thatdue attention must be given to devise appropriate water man-agement policies.

This study attempted to identify the causes of waterlog-ging and suggested remedial measures to overcome theseproblems from the viewpoint of water management basedon the water balance analysis of an irrigated area locatedin the Rohtak-Jhajjar districts of Haryana State, India.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

Study area

The study area lies between 28�30’N to 28�54’N latitudeand 76�27’E to 76�54’E longitude and covers an area ofabout 92 000 ha. The area, which lies within the districtsof Rohtak (25 000 ha) and Jhajjar (67 000 ha), is boundedby Diversion Drain No. 8 flowing from North to South,which continues as the Najafgarh Drain in a southeastern di-rection and the Dulehera Distributary bounding the area inan eastern direction (Figure 1). The study area featuressemi-arid climatic conditions with an average annual rainfallof 561mm, about 75% of which is received from the south-west monsoons during July–September. A typical yearfeatures 36–40 rainy days, while the maximum dry spell


days, while the maximum dry spell within the monsoon sea-son ranges between 38 and 44 days. The mean monthly cli-matic characteristics are shown in Figure 2. The area is partof the older geological formations of India, which consist ofslates, quartzite, sandstone, limestone, phyllites, and micas-chists. The soil texture in the area is mainly of sandy loam tofine loam with clay content between 11-17%. The hydraulicconductivity of the unconfined aquifer material rangesbetween 4.7-11.2m/day, and the saturated thickness rangesbetween 30–34m. Specific yields varies between 0.09-0.23 and total soil porosity varies between 0.43-0.53.Cropping systems are commonly divided into two principalcrop seasons: kharif (monsoon, July-October) and rabi(winter, November-March).Wheat and rice are the major cropsin the area. The existing seasonal cropping pattern is sum-marised in Table 1.

Data acquisition and analysis

An overview of the collected regional information and itssources in the study area are provided in Table 2. Brief de-scription and analysis of the collected data follows:

Groundwater

Groundwater is abstracted mainly through a number of shal-low tubewells. The groundwater levels in the study area weremonitored through a network of 68 observation wells, dis-tributed all over the study area. The groundwater table atthe observation wells were monitored from 1989 to 2010twice a year (June and October). The period of measurementscoincided with the general trend of deepest (June; beforethe rainy season) and shallowest (October; end of monsoon)water levels. The measurements show that the quality ofgroundwater is saline causing the tubewell waters to havean electrical conductivity (EC) of more than 2.0 dS/m. Theaverage groundwater table fluctuated from a depth of1.02m during the monsoon season to 4.57m during summer.

Irrigation

The study area is characterised by an extensive canal net-work, used for irrigation purposes. Canal water quality isconsiderably good, having an EC of 0.3-0.4 dS/m. The dis-charges through all distributaries, sub-branch, and minorcanals were monitored twice a day (morning and evening)through stage measurements by the Irrigation Department.The average daily discharges through minor and majorcanals were between 0.31 and 63.71m3/s. Major distributar-ies, feeders, and sub-branch canals run between 59–98 days;while minor canals run between 7–63 days during each cropseason of the study period.


Figure 1. Map of the study area with rain gauge stations and observation points

WATERLOGGING: CAUSES AND REMEDIAL MEASURES IN A SEMI–ARID REGION

Crop evapotranspiration

Various methods are available for the computation ofreference crop evapotranspiration (ETo). In this study,based on data availability, Hargreaves and Samani method(Hargreaves and Samani, 1985) was used. This methodcomputed daily mean ETo from extraterrestrial solar radia-tion and mean maximum and minimum air temperatures asshown in Equation (1):

ET

Copy

0 ¼ 0:0023�Ra� Tavg þ 17:8� �� ffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffi

Tmax � Tminp

(1)

where Ra is the extraterrestrial solar radiation (mm/day), Tavg,Tmax, and Tmin are daily mean, maximum, and minimum air

right © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

temperatures (�C), and ETo is the reference crop evapotrans-piration (mm/day).

From the ETo values, actual crop evapotranspiration(ETc) were calculated with crop coefficients (Kc) using thefollowing relationship as shown in Equation (2):

ETc ¼ ETo� Kc (2)

Water budget

Groundwater recharge, which is a key component in waterbalance studies of arid and semi-arid areas, was defined asthe residual of water applied on the ground surface thatpassed through the unsaturated zone and reached the


Figure 2. Distribution of mean monthly climatic characteristics

AJAY SINGH ET AL.

saturated groundwater system. The water budget, which isthe accounting of water gains and losses, was expressed asEquation (3):

Ið

Table

Crop

RiceWheMilleSorgSugaPulseMustCottoBarleVegeNon

Note:

Copy

þ RÞ þ Qin � Qoutð Þ � ETcþ ROþ Owð Þ ¼ ΔS (3)

where I and R represent irrigation and rainfall, respectively;Qin and Qout are lateral water fluxes into and out of the studyarea along a boundary; ETc represents water losses due tocrop evapotranspiration; RO is surface water runoff; Qw isgroundwater withdrawal through tubewells; and ΔS is the

I. Existing seasonal cropping patterns of the study area

Monsoon (%) Winter (%)

17.9 –at – 64.3ts 11.6 –hum 10.7 –rcane 4.4 4.3s 0.2 3.5ard – 5.2n 7.6 –y – 1.0tables, fruits, and others 0.4 0.7cultivated 47.2 21.0

Crops are shown as a relative part of the total area


change in saturated groundwater storage. The units for allcomponents in the water balance equation were representedin m3 per time period.

Due to the geological and topographical conditions thatformed a natural depression in the centre of the study area,groundwater outflow (Qout) was considered non-significantin this study. However, for the same reason, Qin was consid-ered significant. Similarly, due to the closed boundary(Figure 1), the surface water runoff to and from the areawas also insignificant in this study. As a result, Equation(3) was modified as Equation (4) as follows:

I þ Rþ Qinð Þ � ET þ Qwð Þ ¼ ΔS (4)

Seasonal fluctuation of groundwater levels can be used toestimate the groundwater recharge rate in an unconfinedaquifer (Healy and Cook, 2002). The change in groundwaterstorage per time period can be written as Equation (5):

ΔS ¼ ΔH � Ahs � Sy (5)

where ΔH is the average change of the measured groundwa-ter levels per time period; Ahs is the area of the hydrologicsystem; and Sy is the average specific yield of the uncon-fined aquifer.

The average specific yield was calculated using Equation(6):

Sy ¼PNg

i¼1Syi

Ng(6)

where Syi is the specific yield of ith grid and Ng is the totalnumber of grids in the study area. Specific yield was deter-mined by the Groundwater Cell (2007) by analysing thetime-drawdown data from pumping tests. CombiningEquations (5) and (6) and simplifying the results providedEquation (7):

Qin ¼ ΔH � Ahs � Sy� �þ ET þ Qwð Þ � I þ Rð Þ (7)

Net groundwater recharge

This study estimated seasonal net groundwater recharge us-ing local norms. The net recharge included different re-charge and discharge components and largely determinedthe groundwater table tendency in the area, and is the basisfor the waterlogging/salinity and declining groundwater ta-ble problems. This study estimated groundwater rechargeand discharge components independently for each seasonduring the study period (1989–2010). Selected rechargecomponents included the following:

Recharge from rainfall. Based on soil and agro-hydrological conditions of the study area, this studyestimated that 20% of the total rainfall contributed tothe recharge of groundwater.


Table II. Overview of the collected regional information and sources

Data No. of stations /locations Period (years) Source/organization

Rainfall 5 36 (1975–2010) Raingauge stations at Rohtak, Jhajjar,Beri, Dujana, and Sampla

Weather parameters 1 41 (1969–2009) India Meteorological Department, PuneDepth to groundwatertable and water quality

68 21 (1989–2010) District Hydrologist, Rohtak

Number of tubewellsand their locations (village wise)

– 21 (1974–2009) District Hydrologist, Rohtak

Aquifer properties 11 4 District Hydrologist, RohtakDaily discharges of canals – 21 (1989–2010) Irrigation Department, Rohtak, and JhajjarTotal, net sown, and irrigatedarea under different crops

– 21 (1989–2010) Department of Agriculture, andTehsildar’s Office, Rohtak, and Jhajjar


Recharge from canal seepage. The seasonal canalseepage was calculated using Equation (8):

Rc ¼ Lc �WPc� Nd � SF � 86400 (8)

where Rc is the groundwater recharge due to canal seepage(m3); Lc is the length of the particular canal (m); WPc isthe wetted perimeter of the canal during run (m); Nd is thenumber of running days of canal during the season (d),and SF is the seepage factor for the canal. The value of SFwas recommended at 0.62-0.75 and 2.5-3.0m3/s/Mm2 ofwetted area for lined and unlined canals, respectively(Irrigation Department, 2008).

Recharge from field percolation. This study estimatedrecharge from irrigated fields using guidelines suggested bythe Groundwater Estimation Committee (1984). The differ-ent proportions of deep percolation in the crop fields wasbased on studies conducted in similar areas for differentcrops. This study estimated groundwater recharge fromcropped fields as shown in Equation (9):

Copy

Rp ¼ A� D� Df (9)

where Rp is the groundwater recharge due to field percola-tion (m3); A is the area under crop cultivation (m2); D isthe depth of irrigation water applied to the field (m); andDf is the fraction of applied water contributed as groundwa-ter recharge.

Draft from tubewells. The seasonal tubewell draft wascalculated using guidelines suggested by the GroundwaterCell study (2008b; Department of Agriculture, Rohtak,Haryana, India) The average discharge of a shallow tubewellwas recorded at 0.006-0.010m3/s.

That study calculated the net recharge for each season asthe sum of the four recharge components (rainfall, field per-colation, canal seepage, groundwater inflow from adjoiningareas) and one discharge component (tubewell draft).


Groundwater table depths were calculated using seasonalnet recharge, since specific yield data were available. Thecalculated groundwater table depths were compared withthe observed and plotted graphically for the entire study pe-riod. To evaluate the methodology further, statistical mea-sures were used to quantify the differences in the calculatedand observed groundwater tables. In this study, mean error(ME) (Ting et al. 1998; Singh, 2010) and root mean squareerror (RMSE) (Singh, 2011) were considered as shown inEquations (10) and (11):

ME ¼ 1N

XNi¼1

ðOi-PiÞ (10)

RMSE ¼ffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffi1N

XNi¼1

ðOi-PiÞ2vuut (11)

where N is the total number of observations; Oi is the observedgroundwater table of the ith observation; and Pi is the calcu-lated groundwater table of the ith observation (i = 1 to N).

Additionally, a case was presented to study the effectsof rice field percolation on groundwater table depth. Inthis case, rice crop was replaced by the low water-requiringcrop sorghum, as the crop water requirement of the latterwas 25% of the former. The approach was to considerwhat could have happened had a reduced rice cultivationbeen implemented compared to that of unaltered baselineconditions.

RESULTS AND DISCUSSION

Groundwater recharge analysis

The analysis of different groundwater recharge components(Table 3) shows that deep percolation through irrigatedfields was the major groundwater recharge contributor dur-ing the monsoon season. The mean (1989–2010) seasonaltotal recharge during monsoon was determined to be


Table III. Net recharge components during the monsoon season (Mm3)

Year Rainfall Canal seepage Deep percolation Groundwater inflows Tubewell draft Net recharge

1989-1990 39 26 125 32 99 1221990-1991 83 26 127 50 107 1781991-1992 67 25 129 45 108 1581992-1993 67 37 134 44 110 1721993-1994 97 27 136 34 112 1821994-1995 84 35 135 55 114 1951995-1996 159 38 133 22 116 2361996-1997 120 26 135 28 122 1891997-1998 55 31 136 54 127 1481998-1099 57 36 137 57 133 1541999-2000 50 25 134 66 139 1362000-2001 57 33 132 67 141 1472001-2002 59 27 137 67 143 1462002-2003 64 25 143 68 146 1542003-2004 78 23 144 46 151 1412004-2005 44 22 149 65 153 1272005-2006 79 24 152 54 155 1542006-2007 58 30 160 61 158 1522007-2008 83 22 171 68 165 1792008-2009 98 27 178 66 167 1782009-2010 54 27 182 57 178 141

AJAY SINGH ET AL.

297Mm3, out of which 48% was contributed by field perco-lation. The contributions of rainfall, canal seepage, andgroundwater inflow were estimated to be 25%, 10%, and17%, respectively. The average tubewell draft was deter-mined at 135Mm3, resulting in an average positive net re-charge of 162Mm3 during the monsoon season.

Table IV. Net recharge components during winter (Mm3)

Year Rainfall Canal seepage Deep percolation

1989-1990 4 28 151990-1991 23 30 151991-1992 7 22 151992-1993 4 24 151993-1994 5 27 151994-1995 13 29 161995-1996 12 31 161996-1997 13 29 161997-1998 30 25 161998-1999 9 24 171999-2000 20 32 182000-2001 26 34 192001-2002 15 33 182002-2003 20 29 202003-2004 6 24 192004-2005 12 25 192005-2006 10 23 202006-2007 9 24 202007-2008 16 22 202008-2009 11 22 202009-2010 10 21 20


During winter season, canal seepage was the main rechargecomponent with an average contribution of 34% of the totalrecharge of 79Mm³ (Table 4). The average tubewell with-drawal of 202Mm³ resulted in a negative net rechargeof �123Mm³. The net recharges during winter were alwaysnegative due to higher tubewell withdrawals. However, the

Groundwater inflows Tubewell draft Net recharge

19 149 �8311 160 �8111 162 �10616 165 �10627 167 �9323 171 �9034 174 �8027 182 �9932 191 �8720 200 �13122 208 �11624 211 �10825 214 �12319 219 �13227 226 �15023 230 �15116 233 �16434 236 �15018 247 �17217 249 �17817 252 �184



average annual net recharge was positive due to highermonsoon recharge that was not fully compensated by thehigher tubewell withdrawals during winter.

This study also revealed that the number of tubewells inthe study area increased over time. This can be observedin Tables 3 and 4 that show a steady rise in tubewell draft.However, the draft was not enough to fully offset the re-charge accrued by other sources. Moreover, the rice areathat was the major contributor in net recharge due to deeppercolation losses also increased.

Figure 4. Comparison between observed and calculated groundwater tables

Groundwater table rise

The analysis of the groundwater balance showed that thestudy area is receiving a mean net recharge of 162Mm3 dur-ing the monsoon season, which resulted in an averagegroundwater table rise of 0.836m during this period through-out the study area; whereas, a negative average net rechargeof �123Mm3 during the winter season could bring downcould bring down the groundwater table by 0.637m. In ayear, thus, it resulted in a positive net recharge of 39millionm3 leading to a net groundwater table rise of 0.198m peryear. This can be observed from Tables 3 and 4 that thecontribution of groundwater inflow in the study area was at12% of the mean total recharge during both seasons.

This led to a continuous accumulation of groundwater inthe study area, which kept the groundwater table movingupward. Long-term monitoring provides evidence of thissituation. Figure 3 shows the time series of depth to ground-water table in the month of June during 1989–2010. Itshows that mean groundwater table depths in 1989 and2010 were at 4.12 and 1.67m, respectively, which indicatesa rise in the groundwater table of 2.45m in a span of21 years. However, the maximum and minimum rises inthe groundwater table were recorded at 4.44 and 0.83m,respectively, in particular wells during the study period. Thecalculated groundwater table depths reasonably matchedobserved depths (Figure 4). This was also confirmed

Figure 3. Time series of depth to groundwater tables during June


statistically by the high regression coefficient of 0.988 andlower values of ME (0.0336m) and RMSE (0.1076m).

A continuously rising groundwater table caused variousproblems in the study region such as waterlogging, soil sal-inisation, and enhancement of floods, particularly during themonsoon season. These floods were further accentuated byman–made barriers such as roads, rail lines, and canalsobstructing the natural flow of water. Waterlogging andflooding in the agricultural areas caused major damage tocrops and soil fertility.

Sustainability of rice-wheat cropping system

Percolation through rice fields considerably increased the re-charge rate during the monsoon season. During winter,some groundwater was used for irrigation using shallowgroundwater pumping systems. Figure 5 shows a yearly(1966–2010) development of the total cropped area usedfor rice, wheat, and other crops. This illustrates that the areaused for crop production in that particular region continu-ously increased in size since the introduction of the GreenRevolution. It can be observed that the total cropped area in-creased by ~ 42% from 85 400 ha in 1966–1967 to 121 000 ha

during the study period (1989–2010).

Figure 5. Development of agricultural areas between 1966–1967 and 2009–2010


Figure 6. Groundwater table behaviour with changes observed in rice areas

AJAY SINGH ET AL.

in 2009–2010. However, during the same period, the areaunder wheat and rice crops increased by 234% and 500%,respectively. At the time, rice was grown in about 33% ofthe net cropped area during the monsoon season. However,the contribution of the rice area (106Mm3) to the seasonalaverage (143Mm3) was about 74%, which led to an averagegroundwater table rise of 0.547m in the study area duringthe monsoon season. As a result, about 66% of the totalgroundwater table rise was the result of rice field percolationalone during the monsoon season. Therefore, it can beconcluded from these results that the introduction of a highyielding rice-wheat dual cropping system under the GreenRevolution was not suitable to the natural hydro-geologicaland topographical conditions of the study region.

Figure 6 depicts what likely happened to the groundwatertable when the rice area was doubled (+ 100%), halved(� 50%), or if there was no rice crop (� 100%) in the studyarea. The groundwater table could have reached the groundsurface against the existing 1.67m with a +100% increase inrice area. Alternatively, a decrease in the groundwater tablecould have been achieved by a reduction in the rice area. Ifno rice crop was produced in the study area, the groundwa-ter table would have increased by only 0.79m during the 21-year study period compared with a rise of 2.45m under theexisting cropping pattern.

Socio–economic issues associated with watermanagement problems

The current study revealed that on an average, the groundwa-ter table was rising, although at a slow rate. Since the ground-water table was already high, further rises could only haveaggravated the situation. A reduction in net recharge of thegroundwater was the only viable means to overcome the prob-lem, and could have been achieved by decreasing canal wateruses, decreasing rice area, and canal lining, or by a combina-tion of the above.

Other alternatives to check waterlogging and salinisationinclude changes in water pricing policy (Kumar and Singh,2003) and matching water supply more closely to water


demands rather than basing water delivery only on cultiva-ble areas. The price of canal water in India is very low,which is a fundamental disaster from an economic point ofview since, when a service (or good) is under-priced, supplyoverwhelms demand. There are only two ways of dealingwith this situation. The first is to ration the service; in otherwords, construct a political framework to determine how toallocate resources. The second is to allow the price to rise. Ahigher cost for canal water will create an incentive for farm-ers to find more efficient ways of irrigating their crops or toswitch to crops that require less water such as sorghum. It istrue that this approach will in turn require a market for sor-ghum that corresponds to additional supply. In India, themarket for agricultural goods is far from responsive or flex-ible. At its heart is the minimum support price mechanismthat buys crops at prices set by the central government. Atlast count, the mechanism covered 26 agricultural productsand sorghum was not one of them. As a result, governmentagencies should include low-water crops in the list and en-force revised canal water pricing structures in these regions.

Each of the groundwater management strategies, discussed,if implemented, would help considerably to reduce the rate ofgroundwater table rise.

CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS

This study reveals that high levels of agricultural productioncould not be sustained in parts of Haryana State, India withthe existing rice-wheat cropping system, because thegroundwater level is rising continuously. Thus, a reductionin rice area against other low-water crops like sorghum issuggested, as it could reduce percolation rates considerably.Moreover, reducing canal water releases into non-rice areascould also reduce net recharge to the aquifer.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

The authors express their sincere thanks to the senior districthydrologist of Rohtak, the deputy director of agriculture of



Rohtak, and the executive engineer, Irrigation Department,Rohtak and Jhajjar for providing necessary data. The IndiaMeteorological Department (IMD) is thankfully acknowledgedfor providing meteorological data. Financial support wasprovided by DST India and DAAD Germany. The DST–DAAD–PPP–2008 project is also gratefully acknowledged.

REFERENCES

Bouwer H. 2000. Integrated water management: emerging issues and chal-lenges. Agricultural Water Mangement 45: 217–228.

De Fraiture C, Wichelns D. 2010. Satisfying future water demands for ag-riculture. Agricultural Water Management 97: 502–511.

Groundwater Cell. 2007. Aquifer Atlas of Rohtak District. Department ofAgriculture: Rohtak (Haryana), India.

Groundwater Cell. 2008a. Groundwater Atlas of Rohtak District. Depart-ment of Agriculture: Rohtak (Haryana), India.

Groundwater Cell. 2008b. Tubewells Discharge Atlas of Rohtak District.Department of Agriculture: Rohtak (Haryana), India.

Groundwater Estimation Committee. 1984. Norms for groundwater assess-ment. National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development: Mumbai,India.

Hargreaves GH, Samani ZA. 1985. Reference crop evapotranspiration fromtemperature. Applied Engineering in Agriculture ASAE 1: 96–99.


Healy RW, Cook PG. 2002. Using ground–water levels to estimate re-charge. Hydrogeology Journal 10: 91–109.

Heuperman AF, Kapoor AS, Denecke HW. 2002. Biodrainage – Principles,Experiences and Applications. Knowledge Synthesis Report No.–6. In-ternational Programme for Technology and Research in Irrigation andDrainage. IPTRID Secretariat, Food and Agriculture Organization ofthe United Nations: Rome; 79 pp.

Irrigation Department. 2008. Canal Atlas of Rohtak District. Office of theExecutive Engineer, Irrigation Department: Rohtak (Haryana), India.

Kumar R, Singh J. 2003. Regional water management modelling for deci-sion support in irrigated agriculture. Journal of Irrigation and DrainageEngineering ASCE 129: 432–439.

Singh A, Panda SN. 2012. Effect of saline irrigation water on mustard(Brassica Juncea) crop yield and soil salinity in a semi-arid area of NorthIndia. Experimental Agriculture 48: 99–110.

Singh A. 2010. Decision support for on farm water management and long–term agricultural sustainability in a semi–arid region of India. Journal ofHydrology 391: 63–76.

Singh A. 2011. Estimating long-term regional groundwater rechargefor the evaluation of potential solution alternatives to waterloggingand salinisation. Journal of Hydrology 406: 245–255.

Ting CS, Zhou Y, de Vries JJ, Simmers I. 1998. Development of a prelim-inary groundwater flow model for water resources management in thePingtung Plain, Taiwan. Ground Water 36: 20–36.

United Nations. 2008. World Population Prospects: 2008. RevisionPopulation Database online [http://www.un.org/esa/population/unpop.htm].


Documents

WATERLOGGING AND FARMLAND SALINISATION: CAUSES … · WATERLOGGING AND FARMLAND SALINISATION: CAUSES AND REMEDIAL ... de riz avec zone réduite ... de la nappe phréatique vers le