What We Export: Rice or Water? Assessing the Sustainability

 

"A big fact of our time is that on an average 5000 litres of water is required to produce 1 Kg of Rice." But the quantity varies from place to place. CACP (Commission for Agriculture Costs and Prices) has observed that water requirement to produce 1 Kg of Paddy in Punjab is 5,337 Litres while it is less than half of Punjab in West Bengal is 2,605 Litres per kg of Rice.   

Water is very essential for crop production and it is utilized in three type- 

1. Transpiration (upward sap flow): 500-1000 Litres
2. Evaporation (conversion into vapour directly from the soil): 800-1000 Litres 
3. And combination of seepage and percolation (within soil movements)
   

So, on an average Rice requires about 2,500 Litres of water to be supplied to produce 1 Kg of Rough Rice with a large variability from 800 to 5,000 litres depending upon the crop management.

The Virtual Water 

It is the amount(volume) of fresh water used in the process of producing a good. Different proportion of water is present in almost all foodstuffs but every product is derived as a result of a long series of developmental processes. These processes requires water.   

1 Kg of Rice: 2,500 Litres 

Maize: 1, 700 Litres 

Barley: 1,200 Litres 

Wheat: 800 Litres 

Milk: 1,000 Litres

Tea: 30 Litres (250 ml)

Beef: 15,000 Litres (For 3 yrs old and 200 Kg animal)

Pork: 4,800 Litres 

Chicken: 3,700 Litres

The Rice and India 

Once it was a dream but now every plate has more than enough of it. In last ten years, India has emerged as largest exporter of Rice in world. But at what cost.

India has exported 91.01 Million Metric tonnes of Rice worth 3.56 Lakh Crores in last ten years from 2009-10 to 2018-19. And in last year 2018-19, the total exports including Basmati and Non-Basmati Rice as 11.06 Million tonnes worth 53,975 Crores. 

Rice export Quantity 

           

The Water Export

From the above data, we can roughly estimate the total amount of water used 

i.e.

for 1 Kg Rice= 2,500 Litres on avg.

Total rice export in last year= 11.06 MT or 11.06*1000 million Kg

Total water consumed;

=  11.06*1000*2500 litres or 11.06*2500 cubic metre 

=  27.65 billion cubic metre

which is equivalent to total water exported. And even if we exclude Basmati Rice because of higher prices( 2 times), then 

Water consumed;

=  7.65*1000*2500 million litres

=  7.65*2500 million cubic metres

=  19.125 Billion Cubic metre 

and in last ten years; water consumed (Non- Basmati Rice) is;

=  57.07*1000*2500 million litres

=  57.07*2500 million cubic metres

=  142.675 Billion Cubic metre

water consumed (Basmati Rice) is;

=  34.93*1000*2500 million litres

=  34.93*2500 million cubic metres

=  87.32 Billion Cubic metre

Total= 142.675+87.32= 230 BCM (Billion cubic metre) 

in India, ground water rechargeable potential is 431 BCM out of which 90% is tapped for irrigation purposes. We are paying a huge cost in earning a little half. As the associated negative externality with exporting Rice, especially Non-Basmati Rice is very high and unrecoverable. This is showing how India is creating water stress for itself and this may result into severe water crisis up to 2030. 

Few questions:

• Why public policies are promoting Rice cultivation even after producing more than enough to feed whole nation?
• Why Rice cultivation is still done in state like Punjab facing a very severe water crisis with 0.5 - 4 metres water table fall every year?
• The promotion via MSP policy can be utilized to promote traditional crops or other crops? And sustainable planning needs urgent focus on current alarming situations.

References:

1. Bas Bouman, IRRI, How much water does rice use?
2. https://www.hindustantimes.com/punjab/punjab-emptying-reservoirs-to-grow-water-guzzling-rice/story-nRHmqkmWVo1IvTxDmKVZ2O.html
3. Water Civilization International Centre, www.civiltacqua.org
4. Agriculture Statistics at a Glance 2018-19
5. Rahman M., Shouraw M., Nov. 2016, Production of Rice versus groundwater depletion in Bangladesh during 1988-2014, Researchgate.net