Which one is a water guzzling crop

N ancy Caywood worries about water constantly. Water – or the uncertainty of it – has kept the 69-year-old During one particularly low point in late 2021, every field on the 255-acre family farm was either fallow, shrivelled or dormant. “The canal was dry, the reservoir was empty, it was raining at the wrong times … the farm was 100% unproductive and we were using savings to pay bills,” said Caywood, a third-generation farmer in Pinal county who grows mostly alfalfa and cotton – two of the most marketable and water-guzzling commodity crops. Nancy Caywood in 2021 standing beside the canal that used to bring water to the cotton and alfalfa fields of Caywood Farms. Photograph: Carolyn Cole/Los Angeles Times/Getty Images And then last year’s Colorado River water rations kicked in, as water managers implemented drought contingency plans to safeguard Lake Mead and Lake Powell, the country’s two largest reservoirs left dangerously depleted by the climate crisis, unchecked urban sprawl and industrialized agriculture. In 2022, the Colorado River water allocated for farmers in central Arizona – the state’s tri-county urban and agricultural heartland – was cut by 65% overall, but most Pinal county farmers lost 80% or more. This was the case even before this month’s A bout half the irrigated farmland will be left unplanted in Pinal county this year, and hundreds of rural jobs have already been lost. Farms are having to rely almost exclusively on groundwater, further depleting the aqui...

Registration gives you: • Tests Take 11 tests and quizzes from GMAT Club and leading GMAT prep companies such as Manhattan Prep. All are free for GMAT Club members. • Applicant Stats View detailed applicant stats such as GPA, GMAT score, work experience, location, application status, and more • Books/Downloads Download thousands of study notes, question collections, GMAT Club’s Grammar and Math books. All are free! and many more benefits! Paddy and sugarcane are India’s the most water-guzzling crops-using up over half of the country’s total irrigation water resources-but procuring policies and water and power subsidies are skews profitability and distorting crop decisions. (a) Paddy and sugarcane are India’s the most water-guzzling crops - using up over half of the country’s total irrigation water resources - but procuring policies and water and power subsidies are skews profitability and distorting crop decisions. (b) Paddy and sugarcane are India’s the most water-guzzling crops -used up over half of the country’s total irrigation water resources - but procuring policies and water and power subsidies are skews profitability and distorting crop decisions. (c) Paddy and sugarcane are India’s most water-guzzling crops - using up over half of the country’s total irrigation water resources - but procurement policies and water and power subsidies are skewing profitability and distorting crop decisions. (d) Paddy and sugarcane are India’s most water-guzzling crops - using up ove...

Sugarcane is a water-intensive crop that remains in the soil all year long. As one of the world’s thirstiest crops, sugarcane has a significant impact on many environmentally sensitive regions, like the Mekong Delta and the Atlantic Forest. Historic planting of sugarcane around the world has led to significant impacts on biodiversity. A vast global market for sugarcane derivatives keeps the industry booming. Sugar is prevalent in the modern diet and increasingly a source of biofuels and bioplastics. As prices of petroleum rise, there is a growing market for ethanol from sugarcane. Managing social and environmental risks is important for sugarcane growers, processors and food companies due to regulatory pressures as well as shareholder and consumer expectations for sustainably produced goods. Silt from eroded soils and nutrients from applied fertilizers often foul water supplies. Sugarcane processing also creates effluents that flow into water and damage important ecological areas. Water quality concerns have prompted a reduction in production in certain areas, with production consequently intensified and expanded onto sandy soils. Because such soils are easily leached, production can only be maintained over time with increasing applications of fertilizer. Industrial waste Sugar mills produce wastewater, emissions and solid waste that impact the environment. The massive quantities of plant matter and sludge washed from mills decompose in freshwater bodies, absorbing all the...

Tags: • • • • • Why in News Recently, the Prime Minister announced a National Mission on Edible Oil-Oil Palm (NMEO-OP), with an investment of over Rs 11,000 crore over a five-year period. • However, some environmentalists have raised concerns over the disastrous impact of palm oil plantations. Key Points • About: • NMEO-OP is a new Centrally Sponsored Scheme.It is proposed to have an additional 6.5 lakh hectares for • It will involve raising the area under oil palm cultivation to 10 lakh hectares by 2025-26 and 16.7 lakh hectares by 2029-30. • Oil palm farmers will be provided financial assistance and will get remuneration under a price and viability formula. • The Viability Formula is a 14.3% of Crude Palm Oil (CPO) price. • It will eventually go up to 15.3%. • Another focus area of the scheme is to substantially increase the support of inputs/interventions. • Special assistance will be given to replant old gardens for their rejuvenation. • Special Focus: • The special emphasis of the scheme will be in India’s North-Eastern (NE) states and the • To attract industry to the NE and Andaman regions, a provision of Rs 5 crore of 5 mt/hr (million tonne per hectare) with pro-rata increase for higher capacity will be given. • Objective: • To harness domestic edible oil prices that are dictated by expensive palm oil imports and become self-reliant in edible oil. • To raise the domestic production of palm oil by three times to 11 lakh MT by 2025-26. • Significance of the Scheme: • ...

Several scientific studies, have found that the depletion in the water table in Punjab, Haryana and Rajasthan is due to unsustainable irrigation practices in this region Image: Shutterstock Even after accounting for land productivity and sugar recovery rate, the ICRIER study shows that, the relatively water abundant states like Bihar and eastern UP should be growing more sugarcane than Maharashtra, Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu, from an irrigation water productivity perspective. When we heard that the Indian cricketers visiting Cape Town early this year were asked to limit their showers to two minutes, many of us did a double take. It is not that water crisis is a new phenomenon for Indians. India has been classified as water stressed country in terms of per capita freshwater availability for some time now. However, hearing about it in other parts of the world, somehow made it startling. It is time we wake up to the truth close to home, and start taking measures that Cape Town has, if we want to avoid the water wars and imminent deaths due to water scarcity awaiting the Indian states. ‘ India is not a water poor country, however, the demand for water is increasing every day due to the growing population and inefficient use of water resources. For instance, Table 1. Water requirement and output share of sugarcane across major sugarcane growing states (estimated year 2014 – 2015) A similar story emerges when one looks at the other water guzzling crop, paddy. Punja...

When discussing the drought, the question of which crops use the most water comes up a lot. A Pacific Institute analysis of On average, California crops used 2.97 acre feet of water per acre that year, the data show. An acre foot is equal to about 326,000 gallons, or enough water to cover an acre of land 1 foot deep. The analysis ranked pasture first among California's top 10 most water-intensive crops, in some cases grouped by categories (in average acre feet of water applied per acre in one growing season), followed by nuts and alfalfa: • Pasture (clover, rye, bermuda and other grasses), 4.92 acre feet per acre • Almonds and pistachios, 4.49 acre feet per acre • Alfalfa, 4.48 acre feet per acre • Citrus and subtropical fruits (grapefruit, lemons, oranges, dates, avocados, olives, jojoba), 4.23 acre feet per acre • Sugar beets, 3.89 acre feet per acre • Other deciduous fruits (applies, apricots, walnuts, cherries, peaches, nectarines, pears, plums, prunes, figs, kiwis), 3.7 acre feet per acre • Cotton, 3.67 acre feet per acre • Onions and garlic, 2.96 acre feet per acre • Potatoes, 2.9 acre feet per acre • Vineyards (table, raisin and wine grapes), 2.85 acre feet per acre Many people also question how much water cannabis takes to grow. The Department of Water Resources didn’t track water usage for cannabis in its 2015 data, but Roughly 40% of California’s water use is agricultural, according to Josue Medellin-Azuara, a director at the UC Davis Center for Watershed Science...

PUNJAB, WHICH is a major rice producing state of the country, has seen a decline of 83,000 hectares this year under this water-guzzling crop, as per a survey report of the state agriculture department. However, this is the sixth year in a row that the state has had over 3 million (over 30 lakh) hectares area under rice (Basmati and non-Basmati) against the need to curtail it to just 2 million hectares. The Punjab agriculture department and director, Punjab land records, under the revenue department, conduct their own surveys to record the actual area under any crop during both Kharif and Rabi seasons in the state. Agricultural department surveys happen earlier. According to the agricultural department survey, a total of 30.66 lakh hectares was brought under rice including paddy and Basmati this year, against 31.49 lakh hectares (27.43 lakh hectares paddy and 4.06 lakh hectares Basmati) last year, though Basmati area is yet to be segregated from the total rice area by the department. Punjab had set a target to bring 5.35 lakh hectares under Basmati this year, which is also an alternative for Paddy because it needs less water than paddy due to its short duration. Overall, rice area has witnessed a fall of 83,000 hectares, which is good for the state where the water table has come under the dark zone in 85 per cent agricultural blocks. However, this is still way off the target Punjab needs to achieve as the state needs to bring down rice area from 3 million hectares to around...