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J. Indian Soc. Remote Sens. (September 2009) 37:483–491
A. Sood1. B.U. Choudhury2(). S.S. Ray3. S.K. Jalota
. P.K. Sharma . S. Panigrahy
Punjab Remote Sensing Centre,
Ludhiana – 141 004, India
Dept. of Soils, Punjab Agricultural University,
Ludhiana – 141 004, India
Space Application Centre, Ahmedabad -380015, India
1Central Soil and Water Conservation Research and
Training Institute (CSWCRTI),
Selakui – 248 197, Uttarakhand, India
email : burhan3i@yahoo.com
Photonirvachak
RESEARCH ARTICLE
Abstract A remote sensing-based approach was
applied to study the impact of changes in cropping
system on the exploitation of water resources in two
districts namely Ludhiana in central Punjab and
Muktsar in South-Western Punjab. Rice–wheat
remained dominant rotation in Ludhiana while cotton-
wheat rotation was replaced partially by rice-wheat
Impact of Cropping Pattern Changes on the Exploitation of Water
Resources: A Remote Sensing and GIS Approach
Anil Sood . B.U. Choudhury . S.S. Ray . S.K. Jalota . P.K. Sharma . Shushma Panigrahy
Received: 7 August 2008 / Accepted : 4 April 2009
Keywords Remote sensing . Cropping system . Water table . Crop diversification
in Muktsar within a span of over five years (1998–
99 to 2003–04). The solo rice-wheat system in
Ludhiana district has resulted in large-scale ground
water exploitation as is evident from the faster decline
in water table (up to 0.9m year-1) and higher tube-
wells density (440 per 1000 ha). As a result, nearly
60 per cent of the total area of Ludhiana district has
the water table depth greater than 10m and in some
blocks, it has reached to a depth of 22 m. In Muktsar
district, corresponding rise in water table is 0.2m per
year and tube well density is 114 per 1000 ha.
Irrigation water associated with paddy cultivation in
Ludhiana and adjoining areas moves laterally
through the buried paleo-channels of Sutlaj in the
deeper soil profile and gets accumulated in the basin
lands of Muktsar and adjoining areas and causes an
extra water flux and subsequent rise in water table,
recorded at 3 to 7m depth. To minimize the
hydrological imbalance of the state, it is suggested
to diversify some of the area in the central districts
from irrigation water intensive rice-wheat system to
less water intensive cropping system.
484 J. Indian Soc. Remote Sens. (September 2009) 37:483–491
Introduction
Green revolution, which was ushered in 1968, has
considerably changed the scenario of Indian
agriculture. Green revolution has made the country
self reliant in meeting the food grain requirement
of the masses, but at the same time, it has also
given birth to several new potential threats to
sustain the existing level of production. The
sustainability of land and water resources in
Punjab has been badly affected in the post green
revolution era due to major shift in the cropping
pattern in favour of input intensive mono-cropped
rotation (rice-wheat) from the traditional multiple
cropping systems. At present, a sizeable area
traditionally under oilseeds, pulses and other coarse
grain cereals has been replaced with rice-wheat
(Government of Punjab, 2004). The rainfall is not
sufficient to meet out the crop-water requirement,
therefore ground water exploitation for irrigation
has increased sharply. Further, continuous
cropping reduces potential recharge by reducing
downward flux of rainfall (O’Connell et al., 1995).
Ground water exploitation for irrigation has
increased sharply. As an outcome, more than 79 per
cent of the total area of the state is facing a problem
of falling ground water table at the rate of 30 cm
per year. Out of 142 blocks of the state, 93 and 13
blocks are already catagorised as dark and grey,
respectively, indicating critical ground water
situation. Out of 93 blocks, the condition of 17
blocks is really deplorable as discharge is 200 per
cent of annual recharge (Directorate of water
Resources, Punjab, 2004).
In Ludhiana and adjoining districts, ground water
exploitation has touched its zenith. In Ludhiana
district, more than 40 per cent of the total area has
the water table depth of below 10m and water table
fall of 0.74 m was registered during 2005 (Hira et al.,
2004). On the other side, in Muktsar, water table is
rising at the rate of 0.2m per year, except Lambi
block. Therefore, for Punjab, it is an ecological
compulsion to diversify some area from rice-wheat
system to other low water requiring crops in order
to check further fall in the water table in central parts
while preventing the further rise in water table in the
south western parts of Punjab. The present study
aims at to analyze the existing cropping system and
to detect the changes over the years with the aid of
satellite remote sensing and GIS tools and
formulating a potentially viable alternative plan to
check the imbalance of the water resources in the
state.
Material and methods
Location of the study area
The study area comprising of Ludhiana and
Muktsar districts of Punjab has been selected
keeping in view the agro-ecological conditions and
dominant cropping system existing in the area.
Ludhiana and Muktsar are at 247 and 205 m above
mean seal level having a ground water gradient of
one cm per kilometer from Ludhiana to Muktsar.
Physiographically, the study area has been
classified under alluvial plain (Ludhiana) and basins
(Muktsar). Ludhiana district is one of the centrally
located districts of Punjab where rice-wheat is the
dominant cropping system. On the other hand,
Muktsar has a terrain with imperceptible slopes and
is regarded a part of the traditional cotton belt of
Punjab state (Fig. 1).
Data used
Three dates composite (June 21, July 16 and 9
August, 2003) of calibrated, speckle free and
georeferenced RADARSAT ScanSAR data (25 m
spatial resolution) were used for rice in kharif
season. Using decision rule-based classification
algorithm three dates composite data have been
found suitable for rice crop monitoring and is
operational in India for kharif rice crop acreage
estimation (Panigrahy et al., 2000). For cotton and
485
J. Indian Soc. Remote Sens. (September 2009) 37:483–491
wheat the IRS-1D LISS-III (23.5 m spatial resolution)
data of dates September 24, 2003 and February 21,
2004, respectively were used. For monitoring the
changes in cropping system, crop rotation maps of
Punjab state prepared during the year 1998–99
(Panigrahy et al., 2003) were used as reference
maps.
Non-spatial data (land use, crop acreage and
production, irrigation statistics) were obtained from
different issues of statistical abstracts of Punjab,
published by Economic Advisor, Government of
Punjab. The spatial data on canal were obtained by
interpreting remote sensing data (IRS-1D LISS III,
2004). Information related to water table depth, water
table fluctuation and tube well density were obtained
from department of agriculture, Punjab and the spatial
maps for the same were generated using Arc GIS. The
district and block boundaries were overlaid on the
maps and the area of interest was extracted.
Methodology
Remote Sensing data from sensors onboard Indian
Remote Sensing Satellite (IRS-1D LISS –III) of
September 24, 2003 and February 21, 2004 were
registered to the corresponding master images
(already georeferenced) using image-to-image
registration. In the similar manner, RADARSAT Scan
SAR data for three dates (22 June, 16 July and 9
August, 2003) were also registered. The image-to-
image registration was done with sub-pixel accuracy
(<0.5 root mean square error with second order
polynomial). All the dates data were brought to 25
m resolution using cubic convolution interpolation
technique. Then the database for Ludhiana and
Muktsar districts were extracted by overlaying the
district boundary. The block boundaries were also
overlaid on the RS data.
Using ground truth information and a two stage
classification approach such as unsupervised
isodata followed by maximum likelihood classifier,
non-agricultural mask was generated for both kharif
and Rabi seasons. Using logistic modeling approach
and by overlaying the non-agricultural mask on
RADARSAT Scan SAR data, rice mask was
generated. Using this rice and non-agricultural
mask, the cotton mask was generated from the
IRS-1D-LISS-III data for the month of September
2003. Similarly, for Rabi season, using the non-
agricultural mask, wheat mask was generated from
IRS-1D-LISS-III data for the month of February 2004.
Subsequently, the corresponding area under rice,
cotton and wheat were calculated. The accuracy of
area under crops was verified with the data of Bureau
of Economics and Statistics, Government of Punjab,
for the same year, 2003–04, which was more than 90
per cent.
The cropping pattern maps generated for both
kharif and Rabi seasons for the year 2003–04 were
integrated to generate the crop rotation maps. To
Fig. 1 Location Map of the study area.
486 J. Indian Soc. Remote Sens. (September 2009) 37:483–491
monitor the temporal changes in cropping pattern
from 1998–99 to 2003–04, corresponding crop
rotation maps were compared.
Results and discussion
Temporal changes in crop acreage and crop
rotation
The analysis of temporal changes in cropping pattern
over the span of nine years (from 1995–96 to 2003–
04) in Ludhiana district suggested that rice and wheat
are the dominant crops covering an area of more
than 80 per cent of the total cropped area (TCA)
during kharif and rabi seasons, respectively
(Government of Punjab, 1995–2004). Contribution of
other crops to the total cropped area is negligible
(<7% of the TCA). When the changes in different
crop rotation over the span of five years (1998–99
to 2003–04) were monitored from remote sensing data
(Table 1 and Fig. 2a), it was observed that rice-wheat
remained the dominant cropping system over the
years, occupying more than 75 per cent of the
total cropped area (TCA). The per cent area under
rice-wheat rotation has increased further by 4 per
cent over the periods of five years from 1998–99 to
2003–04. At the same time, there is reduction in area
under sugarcane, vegetables, maize and fodder
based cropping systems to the tune of 8 per cent.
This indicates that area under rice-wheat rotation
has increased only at the cost of under other minor
crops. Such continuous encroachment of rice and
wheat into the non-rice–wheat growing areas, which
were earlier dominated by other oil seeds, pulses and
other coarse grain cereals, has posed a serious threat
to the sustainability of land and water resources in
the state.
In case of Muktsar district, till 1997–98, cotton
was the major crop during kharif season, covering
an area of more than 70 per cent of the TCA.
However, from 1998–99 onwards, all of a sudden, area
under cotton has declined by nearly 24 per cent and
at the same time, area under rice has increased from
10 to 40 per cent of the TCA (Government of Punjab,
Table 1 Temporal changes from 1998–99 to 2003–04 as estimated using remote sensing data in Ludhiana and Muktsar
districts of Punjab
Crop rotation Area, 000 ha % Change
1998–99 2003–2004
Ludhiana
Rice-wheat 76.25 80.23 +3.98
Wheat-others 2.35 4.60 +2.25
Others-others* 12.74 4.13 -8.61
Non-agriculture 8.66 11.04 +2.38
Muktsar
Cotton-wheat 54.20 35.66 -18.54
Rice-wheat 32.60 33.37 +0.77
Wheat-others 0.74 7.28 +6.54
Others-others** 4.35 13.22 +8.87
Non-agriculture 8.11 10.47 +2.36
* Sugar cane/ Vegetable/ Fodder/ Maize based cropping system
** Barley/ Rape seed and Mustard /Fodder /Sugar cane based cropping system
487
J. Indian Soc. Remote Sens. (September 2009) 37:483–491
1995–2004). This change is attributed to severe water
logging that occurred during the month of August,
1997 in the south western districts of Punjab covering
Muktsar, where more that 4500 ha area was affected
(Chopra et al., 1998). As a result, the existing cotton
crop in that year suffered a heavy loss, which
compelled the farmers to switch over from cotton to
rice crop in the following years. In the later years,
this switch over became a permanent feature and
covered a large area (40 % TCA under rice in 2003–
04) due to better and well-organized marketing/
procurement facility for the rice. This has further
encouraged the farmers to adopt the rice-wheat
system even in the non-rice growing areas at a
large extent despite of the fact that water table was
lowered by digging a number of open drains,
providing subsurface drainage (collective efforts by
the successive governments and the farming
community), cleaning of natural drainage and
installation of tube wells to pump out the water from
fields. In Rabi season, however, wheat remains the
dominant crop covering an area of nearly 90 per cent
of the TCA from 1995–96 up to 2003–04 (Government
of Punjab, 1995–2004).
When temporal variation in major crop rotations
was studied from satellite data over a span of five
years (1998–99 to 2003–04) (Table 1 and Fig. 2b), a
significant change has been observed. Though
cotton-wheat was the dominant rotation, but the
area under this rotation has decreased remarkably
from 54.2 (in 1998–99) to 35.7 per cent of total
cropped area (TCA) during 2003–04. The decrease
in area under cotton-wheat rotation has been a gain
to other minor crop based rotations (such as rape-
seed and mustard, barley, fodders etc.). This was
Fig. 2a Crop rotation map of Ludhiana district of Punjab, 2003–2004.
488 J. Indian Soc. Remote Sens. (September 2009) 37:483–491
reflected by an increase in area by 6.5 and 8.8 per
cent under wheat-other crops and others-others (non
wheat, non rice) crop rotations, respectively, for the
same periods. However, at the same time, area under
rice-wheat rotation remained almost constant: (32.6 to
33.4 % of TCA). Over a span of six years, now rice-
wheat and cotton-wheat systems have become the
two major crop rotations followed in Muktsar district.
Hence, the Muktsar district is gradually switching over
to rice-wheat from the traditional cotton-wheat
cropping system. Though short-term benefits will be
reaped, as the rice-wheat system is relatively more
profitable, yet on long run, the implication of which
will be clearly visible on the water resources front.
irrigated area of the district is being irrigated through
tube-wells (Fig. 3). The distribution of canal network
in the district is scanty with erratic supply of canal
water in comparison to Muktsar district. Due to
predominance of rice-wheat crop rotation in the
Ludhiana district, farmers used to pump out ground
water extensively to meet the crop water requirement
as well as other land preparation. The number of
tube-wells and its density spreading at an alarming
rate has reflected this. On an average, tube well
density is more than 440 per 1000 ha of TGA in
Ludhiana as against 114 in Muktsar district (Fig.4).
As a consequence, more than 40 per cent of the total
Fig. 4 Number of tube wells during 1997–98 and 1999–
2000 in the Ludhiana and Muktsar districts, respectively.
Influence of temporal changes in crop rotation and
water resources
In the district of Ludhiana, major source of irrigation
is the groundwater. More than 95 per cent of the net
Fig. 3 Temporal changes in per cent net area irrigated
through canal and tube well in Ludhiana and Muktsar
districts of Punjab.
Fig. 2b Crop rotation map of Muktsar district of Punjab,
2003–2004.
489
J. Indian Soc. Remote Sens. (September 2009) 37:483–491
area of the district has the water table depth below
10m and in some blocks; it has reached to a depth
of 22 m (Fig. 5a). This has led to fall in ground water
table in most parts of the district and its adjoining
areas where rice is predominantly grown as the major
kharif crop. For the last 10 years, the ground water
table has fallen by a depth of 91cm in some blocks
of the district (Fig. 5b). The underlying cause for this
Fig. 5a Block wise depth of water table (m) in Ludhiana
and Muktsar districts, 2003.
Fig. 5b Block wise rise/fall in water table depth (m)
during last 10 years in Ludhiana and Muktsar districts,
(1993–2003).
490 J. Indian Soc. Remote Sens. (September 2009) 37:483–491
alarming situation of ground water balance front is
believed to be solely due to more use of irrigation
water in rice than other crops (Prihar and Sandhu,
1993; Jalota, 2004) as well as more area under
cultivation of rice (2.6 out of the 4.24 m ha cultivated
area).
In contrast to Ludhiana, the major source of
irrigation in Muktsar district was the government
canal till 1995–96. However, from 1995–96 to 1998–
99 the contribution of canal has decreased to the
extent of 25 per cent because of water logging
problem in 1997–1998. During that period the
contribution of ground water to irrigate the area has
increased from 7.6 (in 1997–98) to 73.5 per cent of
net irrigated area during 1998–99 (as indicated by
increased number of tube wells). In the district,
nearly 61 per cent area has poor quality ground
water (Sharma et al., 2003). Therefore, the continuous
use of such waters for irrigation purposes posed
several perilous impacts: salinity, alkalinity or
sodicity, which in turn made many productive areas
unproductive and as a result, the total system
productivity has declined. The rise in water table in
Muktsar district continued except Lambi block in last
10 years (from 1993–2003) as against a reverse trend
of fall of water table in Ludhiana district (Figs. 5b).
In 2002–03, canal system again was rejuvenated and
became the major source of irrigation from 2003–04
onwards and increased its contribution more than 98
per cent (Fig. 3).
At present, situation is that though the problem
of water logging has receded, but still rice crop is
being adopted at large scale. Application of huge
amount of irrigation water from canal has leached out
the salt concentration below root zone but majority
of the area in Muktsar is facing the problem of rising
water table, which is reflected by the water table
depth that remained at 3 to 7 m depth (Fig. 5a). Water
logging in this district occurs due to the reasons (i)
repeated recharge through seepage from canals
(Rajasthan Feeder), (ii) physiographically situated in
basin lands with saucer shape and (iii) Irrigation
water associated with paddy cultivation in the
central Punjab (Ludhiana and adjoining areas) moves
laterally through the paleo channels of Sutlaj and
gets accumulated in the basin lands of Muktsar and
adjoining areas. These conditions favoured an extra
water flux and subsequent rise in water table in those
basin lands.
Conclusions
The present study has revealed that to arrest fall in
water table depth in the central parts of Punjab
comprising Ludhiana and adjoining areas and rise in
south-west (Muktsar), there is a need of crop
diversification. In central districts, majority of the
areas should be brought under low water requiring
crops like pulses, oilseeds, other soil enriching crops
and among cereals, cotton or maize based cropping
system instead of water intensive rice based
cropping system. This will immensely help in
checking the further fall in ground water table in
those areas, while preventing the ferrying of
additional amount of water flux through the paleo
channels of Sutluj to the low lying south western
parts of Punjab like Muktsar and the occurrence of
rise in water table. Similarly, for Muktsar, switch over
from rice-based cropping system to cotton or
other low irrigation water requiring cropping
system will greatly help in preventing the further rise
in water table and subsequent development of
secondary salinization. Therefore, if cotton or other
low water requiring crops are followed in the central
districts, the rise in water table in south-west and
its subsequent consequences can be arrested
efficiently.
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