Unintended consequence

Shift in paddy sowing is not helping

India is expecting a normal monsoon this year, which will help boost agricultural production. However, it may still have a limited effect on states where groundwater is depleting at an alarming rate. The adoption of the wheat-paddy cultivation cycle in the states of Punjab and Haryana, for example, has been accompanied by severe groundwater depletion. To arrest the negative externalities of extensive paddy cultivation, both states enacted similar legislation in 2009 — the Punjab Preservation of Subsoil Water Act (PPSWA) and the Haryana Preservation of Subsoil Water Act (HPSWA). The laws aimed to synchronise paddy sowing timing with the onset