Rajasthan’s Farming Families Are Being Pushed Into Debt, Distress, Migration

Supiyar Kanwar’s family grew wheat until the water ran dry. Digging deeper holes didn’t fix it. They switched to mustard, but the water table fell further. Their millet crop also dried up. They looked into micro irrigation, but after many failed tube wells and low water, they couldn’t afford it. Now, half the family has moved to the city to work in factories.

Thousands of farming families in Rajasthan have suffered similar fates under a policy that makes it the only state still overusing water, even as wells run dry.

A six-month deep dive into agricultural data by Mongabay India shows that Rajasthan, India’s largest state by area, is racing toward a groundwater crisis. While other states have slowed water extraction, as of 2023, Rajasthan was pumping 16.74 billion cubic metres annually, of which 80% was used for irrigation. Farmers face failing crops, dried-up wells, and rising debts.

For decades, water-hungry wheat ruled the fields. Now, as water sources vanish, even drought-resistant crops like mustard and millet struggle under erratic rainfall and rising temperatures. With no clear solution in sight, families are leaving for the cities. Groundwater reserves that took millions of years to form are vanishing in decades. The looming question remains: What happens when the last drop is gone?

Speeding towards disaster

Seventy-year-old Supiyar Kanwar remembers when her village fields were lush with wheat, the backbone of Rajasthan farming. Today, the land in Dhanakabas village is barren. “For 20 years, we haven’t grown wheat. We tried bajra (pearl millet), but it failed this year (2023),” she says, pointing to a small pile of dried bajra husk — the only remnant from three acres of land.

Dhanakabas in Jaipur district’s Chomu Panchayat is just one of many villages hit hard by water shortages. “We once had a 200-foot well that provided water,” Kanwar recalls, gesturing toward a dismantled, mud-filled well. “There isn’t a single working well in this entire area,” adds her son, Kailash Singh Shekhawat, a daily wage labourer. “I haven’t seen a functioning well here in my life.”

In the past five years, Kanwar’s family spent over Rs. 12 lakh (Rs. 1.2 million) drilling five tubewells — all in vain. “One tubewell runs for just 30 minutes and only gives salty water. What’s the point?” says Shekhawat.

This is a common story in Rajasthan, which ranks fourth among India’s top five groundwater-extracting states, after Uttar Pradesh, Punjab, and Madhya Pradesh. India is the largest user of groundwater globally and extracts more than the United States and China combined.

As of 2023, Rajasthan pumped 16.74 billion cubic metres through the year, with 80% used for irrigation.

Government assessments conducted for five years in the 2013-2023 period show that Rajasthan extracted at least 82 billion cubic metres of groundwater. That is enough to provide water to every household in the state for over 36 years. Around 85% — about 71 billion cubic metres — of this extracted groundwater has been used to irrigate agricultural fields in the state. This shows Rajasthan’s heavy reliance on groundwater for farming. Limited data, which does not give a complete picture of the entire decade, also reflects the significant gaps in monitoring.

Unlike the other four top groundwater extracting states in India, where groundwater extraction for irrigation has reduced over the past decade, Rajasthan saw a 3.74% increase from 2013 to 2023. As per 2023 data, the top five districts in terms of water extraction — Jaipur, Alwar, Nagaur, Jodhpur, and Jalor — together account for about a third of Rajasthan’s groundwater extraction for that year, drawing over 5.55 billion cubic metres of water, the majority of which goes to the agriculture sector.

Climate change impacts groundwater recharge

“Rajasthan’s geography and climate make it uniquely vulnerable,” explains Rani Saxena, Assistant Professor of Agronomy at Rajasthan Agricultural Research Institute. “When there’s no rain, there’s no recharge. Rainfall only meets the soil’s immediate moisture needs, leaving aquifers dry. Rising temperatures further worsen the situation by increasing evaporation, making groundwater reliance inevitable — and unsustainable,” says Saxena. While the full impact of climate change is still uncertain, its unpredictability adds to the challenge. “If rainfall increases like it did last time, it could be seen as a positive sign. However, unpredictable and excessive rainfall can harm crops and alter cropping patterns, while droughts will further strain groundwater resources,” she adds.

For farmers like Krishna Yadav, a 24-year-old from Tankarda village in Jaipur district, the crisis is both personal and immediate. “In just two years, I have seen a drastic drop in water levels. Earlier, 10-12 nozzles (in the tubewell) ran; now, only two to three work,” says Yadav, showing his tubewell.

Until two years ago, Yadav cultivated bajra during Kharif and mustard and wheat during Rabi on his five-acre farm. “I had four tube wells, but two have dried up,” he explains. Water flow from his remaining borewells has also drastically reduced. “Eight years back, it took 10 minutes to fill a 4,000-litre tank; now, it takes over an hour.” This forced him to stop growing wheat; even mustard is now a challenge. “Earlier, sprinklers ran for eight hours a day, and it took just four days to irrigate one acre. Now, it takes 15-20 days,” he says.

By the time water reaches one end of the field, the other end is parched again, he says and adds, “We only have enough water for drinking now. If it rains once or twice, mustard might grow; otherwise, it won’t.”

Eight years back, when water scarcity increased, the farmers shifted to sprinklers. “Earlier, it was open irrigation, then sprinklers, and now drip. What will come after drip?” he asks.

His home is one of the few in the village still clinging to agriculture. Yet, Yadav lives in constant fear that his remaining borewell could dry up at any moment.

Drought-resistant crops can’t save the vanishing water

Crops like mustard and millet require significantly less water than wheat. Growing one kg of wheat takes 1,684 litres of water in the state, compared to just 50 litres for millet, according to a 2010 report by the UNESCO-IHE Institute for Water Education. Yet, one in five fields in Rajasthan still grows water-intensive crops like wheat and paddy.

Mustard has gained traction in districts like Alwar, where yields have increased, but wheat remains dominant due to a lack of incentives to diversify.

“I know wheat consumes more water, but what else can we do?” says Laxminarayan Yadav, a farmer from Kaladera village in Jaipur district. “Wheat fetches Rs. 3,200 to Rs. 3,400 per quintal. No other crop offers that kind of return,” adds the 45-year-old farmer. Yadav’s family once cultivated 28 acres of land; now, they are down to just one acre. Despite digging six borewells, accessing groundwater remains a challenge.

The only farmers shifting from wheat to mustard are those whose fields have run dry. “Those who can grow wheat are the ones with access to water,” explains Saxena. “Where water is scarce, mustard becomes the logical choice. It’s hardy, low-water and still fetches a good price. In many parched pockets, farmers have already made the switch — out of necessity, not preference.”

As the water table falls further, only one crop, bajra, seems to have potential. But unlike southern states, where millets can be grown in the rabi season as well, Rajasthan’s climate restricts millet cultivation to just the kharif season, making it a supplementary crop rather than a primary one, says a scientist from the Central Ground Water Board (CGWB), speaking on condition of anonymity as he was not authorised to talk to media.

Rajasthan’s last-ditch solutions

The adoption of micro-irrigation has grown 15-fold in recent years, but it remains a drop in the bucket compared to the scale of wheat farming. Between 2015 and 2023, less than one in ten farms in Rajasthan used micro-irrigation, despite its potential to conserve water, according to data from the Pradhan Mantri Krishi Sinchayee Yojana (PMKSY).

To combat groundwater depletion, Rajasthan is promoting rainwater harvesting through three schemes: irrigation pipelines, farm ponds, and diggis (water tanks). “Pipelines conserve water by minimising losses, farm ponds collect rainwater, and diggis store canal water for later use,” explains Ramnivas Gautam Charula Sharma, Assistant Director of Agriculture, the Government of Rajasthan.

“Rainwater is the best resource. If farmers stop groundwater extraction, recovery is possible in 10-20 years. But demand exceeds supply — we have over a lakh (100,000) applications for digging farm ponds, yet can fund only 20,000 this year,” he adds.

When asked about low micro-irrigation adoption, Sharma counters, “No, that is not the case. It is widespread. If it is just 10%, we need to recheck. Farming without it is impossible in Rajasthan.”

“Drip irrigation can work with less water, but there still has to be water, right?” asks Mali Ram.

“None of these solutions — millets, farm ponds, sprinkler — will make a real difference. Let me be honest,” says the scientist from the CGWB. “The water that took thousands of years to accumulate has been drained in just 10-20 years.” Emphasising that irrigation is the main culprit, he explains, “While we regulate groundwater for housing and industry, irrigation gets a free pass. Politicians don’t want to upset farmers — even though irrigation wastes the most water and hits farmers the hardest.” He warns, “Until the water is completely gone, farmers won’t stop.”

“Globally, people move to industry and services, but here, 70% remain in farming. Until that changes, the crisis won’t end,” he says.

Like Mali Ram, Shekhawat goes to the Kaladera labour chowk every day to search for work. The water crisis has fractured his family. “Three of my brothers live elsewhere now. There’s no water here, no farming — what can we do?” asks Shekhawat.

Until two years ago, his family owned over 15 cattle, but providing them with not fodder but water became impossible. “We sold them!” says Supiyar Kanwar, wiping her eyes. “What can we do? There’s no water.”

(Published under Creative Commons from Mongabay India. Read the original article here)