Parched Punjab saves 7,000 billion litres of water in 2 yrs, courtesy diversification
(WorldNews India)

Despite being a major paddy growing state, Punjab has seen a huge drop in area under the water-guzzling crop in the past two years. This is great news for the state as it is witnessing an alarming decline in its groundwater levels. However, even though it has saved around 7,000 billion litres of water through crop diversification and the Direct Seeding of Rice (DSR) technique this year, experts say it is far from sufficient, and only concerted efforts over the next decade to reach sustainability level groundwater. According to agriculture department records, Punjab has already reduced its area under paddy by over 5 lakh hectares (12.35 lakh acres) since 2018. To grow 1 kg of paddy, 2,500...