Question

How is agriculture responsible for reduction in the availability of surface and ground water?

Answer 1

1. Overuse of Water for Irrigation: Farmers often use too much water to irrigate crops. Traditional methods like flooding the fields waste a lot of water as it either evaporates or runs off without soaking into the soil.
2. Overdrawing Ground Water: In areas where rainfall is low, farmers use tube wells to draw underground water. This lowers the groundwater level because water is taken out faster than it can be refilled by rain.
3. Water-Intensive Crops: Some crops like rice and sugarcane need a lot of water. Growing these in dry areas, such as Punjab and Haryana, uses up a lot of water that could be saved or used for other needs.
4. Poor Irrigation Techniques: Many farmers do not use modern methods like drip or sprinkler irrigation. These techniques save water, but they are not used much because they are expensive or farmers are not aware of them.
5. Soil Damage and Less Water Absorption: Too much irrigation washes away the topsoil. This makes the soil hard and less able to absorb water, which means less water goes down to refill underground sources.