Punjab & Haryana to De-Risk Economy

Punjab & Haryana to De-Risk Economy

• Punjab and Haryana have been India’s breadbasket and lynchpins of its food security, especially post the Green Revolution.
• Though, their performance in this role has declined in the past few decades, this article claims that they are still better placed to save India’s agriculture from the current deficit monsoon crisis.

Decline in their role

• Over the last two decades, the two states’ combined share in total wheat procurement for the Central food-grain pool has fallen from 90% to 70%. In wheat, MP overtook Punjab as the top contributor to the Central pool in 2019-20
• It’s been from 44% to 28% for rice. In rice. Telangana has emerged as a clear No. 2 behind Punjab.
• Reasons : Procurement Diversification and other states establishing good procurement infrastructure for farmers. Thus, procurement that was heavily concentrated in Punjab and Haryana, has now spread out to more states.

Why other States cannot help this year ?

• Bad/subnormal monsoon: The contribution of most states to wheat procurement has tended to be low in poor monsoon years due to low harvests (kharif crops).
• El Niño forecast this year: It has been associated with monsoon failures in India (2014, 2015 and 2018 recorded subnormal rainfall as all three were El Niño years).
• Rice production may be worst affected, as it is highly water-intensive and requires at least 25 irrigations in the absence of rain.
• Wheat (rabi crop) production may also suffer, due to temperature spikes and because it is grown using groundwater and dam reservoirs that are recharged/refilled during the monsoon.

 Punjab & Haryana : The Saviors

• Better Procurement Infrastructure.
• Assured Irrigation facilities
•  8 hours of uninterrupted free power daily to run these tube wells(Punjab).

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