Dairies face water depletion threat

There seems to be no end for the worries of the dairy cooperatives in Gujarat as a recent research has pointed out that the depleting groundwater level in the state will sound the death knell for the sector.

According to the research conducted by the International Water Management Institute-Tata Water Policy Research Programme (ITP), dairy cooperatives should be proactive to manage the region's water resources which will protect the long-term interests of their members.

The report, called 'Virtual water trade in the dairy economy', was a fallout of an analysis of irrigation water productivity in dairy production in the state.

"Thanks to the market access and production enhancement programmes run by cooperatives, dairying has become the backbone of rural livelihoods in arid and semi-arid regions. However, intensification of dairying has been accompanied by intensive use of water used in growing feed and fodder. A dairy cow or buffalo needs only 100 litre of water daily, but to produce the feed and fodder it requires 10,000 litre of water per day," said the report.

According to the study, Gujarat uses 3,500 litre of water to produce a litre of milk compared with the global average of less than 900 litre. Dairying-based rural livelihood systems are now threatening the limited water resources of arid and semi-arid areas, and their future in turn is threatened by the depletion of these resources.

The report, taking note of the National Diary Development Board's contribution in the Operation Flood Programme, said Gujarat is one of the front-runners of dairy production in the country. But the current situation has added to the burden of the already stressed groundwater resources.

A dairy animal requires only about 70-80 litre of water per day for drinking. Lactating dairy animal requires some more water to produce milk (2.5 litre drinking water per litre of milk production). A cow or a buffalo producing 10 litre of milk a day then would require about 100 litre of drinking water.

"Average daily water used by a buffalo and a crossbred cow in the Mehsana district of Gujarat was 10.18 cubic metre and 10.51 cubic metre, respectively, with the share of drinking water being less then one per cent, while embedded water accounts for the rest," the report said.

The study covered five district cooperative dairy co-operatives falling in three distinct regions of Gujarat. The regions are: Anand and Surat district dairy unions in south and central Gujarat; Mehsana and Banaskantha district dairy unions in north Gujarat; and Rajkot district dairy union in Saurashtra region.

Two villages were selected from each union and from each village a sample of 30 dairy farming households was surveyed.

Mehsana and Banaskantha fall in the north Gujarat region, which is 'absolutely water scarce', Rajkot district falls in Saurashtra which is a 'water scarce' region and Anand and Surat fall in south and central Gujarat, which is a 'water abundant' region.

The study considered both direct consumptive water use and embedded water use (irrigation water used for producing inputs of dairy production) to estimate total water used for dairy production.

The estimates understate true water use because all calculations are done for irrigation water use, while the use of rainfall and soil moisture is excluded.

The report observes that dairy farming is highly water intensive, though the efficiency of water use varies across regions and also across animals.

Gujarat uses 1,900-4,600 litre of irrigation water per litre of milk produced which is much higher than the national level of 2,749 litre of total water use per litre of milk production and the global average of 874 litre. This suggests a strong need to reduce the water intensity of dairy production in Gujarat.

"Use of highly water intensive irrigated green fodder makes dairy farming more water intensive. In view of this, it becomes imperative to improve water use efficiency of irrigated fodder production in different regions of Gujarat," the report said.