Skip to main content

Advertisement

Springer Nature Link
Log in

Managing CO2 emission from groundwater pumping for irrigating major crops in trans indo-gangetic plains of India

  • Published:
Climatic Change Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Groundwater irrigation and energy played an important role in increasing agricultural production and food security in India; however, declining groundwater levels result in an increase of energy consumption and CO2 emission for lifting water. This, in the future, is expected to influence groundwater development and usage policy in India. This study was undertaken to assess the CO2 emission from groundwater irrigation in an agriculturally dominant district, Karnal of Haryana in India, and to explore the possibility of reducing CO2 emission through various management alternatives. This study indicates that the CO2 emission from groundwater irrigation for baseline scenario is the highest for sugarcane (93 kgCO2/ha/m) followed by rice (40 kgCO2/ha/m), wheat (28 kgCO2/ha/m), mustard (26 kgCO2/ha/m), pigeon pea (14 kgCO2/ha/m) and pearl millet (4 kgCO2/ha/m). However, on a district level, the total CO2 emission under the baseline scenario is highest for rice (140,655 Mt) followed by wheat (98,153 Mt) and sugarcane (18,416 Mt). Higher CO2 emissions from rice and wheat are due to more area under these crops. Results also indicate that CO2 emission can be reduced by 32 % by improving pump efficiency from 34.7 to 51 %. Results show that by improving irrigation efficiency in rice by 15 % and in other crops by 20 % over the baseline efficiency, CO2 emissions can be reduced by 23 % in rice and 25 % in other crops. By improving the pump set and irrigation efficiencies together up to the achievable level, CO2 emissions can be reduced up to 48 % for rice and other crops.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Subscribe and save

Springer+ Basic
$34.99 /Month
  • Get 10 units per month
  • Download Article/Chapter or eBook
  • 1 Unit = 1 Article or 1 Chapter
  • Cancel anytime
Subscribe now

Buy Now

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Fig. 1
Fig. 2
Fig. 3
Fig. 4

Similar content being viewed by others

Explore related subjects

Discover the latest articles and news from researchers in related subjects, suggested using machine learning.

References

  • CEA (2013) CO2 baseline database for the Indian power sector, user guide - Central Electricity Authority, version 8.0. Ministry of Power, Government of India, New Delhi, www.cea.nic.in/...co2/user_guide_ver8

  • CGWB (2007) Karnal district Haryana. Central Ground Water Board. Ministry of Water Resources, GoI, Chandigarh 1–19. http://cgwb.gov.in/District_Profile/Haryana/Karnal.pdf

  • CGWB (2010) Groundwater scenario of India 2009–10. Central Ground Water Board. Ministry of Water Resources, GoI, Faridabad, http://www.cgwb.gov.in/documents/Ground%20Water%20Year%20Book%202009-10.pdf

  • CWC (2010) Water and related statistics. Central Water Commission: 1–264, http://www.cwc.nic.in/iso_data_bank/W&RelatedStatatics_2010.pdf

  • Dale LL, Karali N, Millstein D, Carnall M, Vicuña S, Borchers N, et al. (2015) An integrated assessment of water-energy and climate change in Sacramento, California: how strong is the nexus? Clim Chang 132(2):223–235

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Engineering toolbox (2013) Resources, tools and basic information for engineering and design of technical applications http://www.engineeringtoolbox.com

  • Griffiths-Sattenspiel B, Wilson W (2009) The carbon footprint of water. River Network Portland www.rivernetwork.org. 1–50

  • Gupta SK (2007) An Overview of the Indian water resources scenario and water management issues related to irrigated agriculture. On-farm land and water management 9–15

  • IASRI (2012) Agricultural research data book. Indian Agricultural Statistics Research Institute (IASRI), New Delhi 1–264 http://www.iasri.res.in/agridata/12data/HOME_12.HTML

  • Irmak S, Odhiambo LO, Kranz WL (2011) Irrigation efficiency and uniformity, and water use efficiency. University of Nebraska-Lincoln 1–9

  • IS: 8034 (2002) Submersible pump sets -specification (second revision). Bureau of Indian Standards, New Delhi, pp. 1–11

    Google Scholar 

  • Jackson TM, Khan S, Hafeez MA (2010) Comparative analysis of water application and energy consumption at the irrigated field level. Agric Water Manag 97(10):1477–1485

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Jackson TM, Hanjra MA, Khan S, Hafeez MM (2011) Building a climate resilient farm: A risk based approach for understanding water, energy and emissions in irrigated agriculture. Agric Syst 104:729–774

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Jeevandas A, Singh RP, Kumar R (2008) Concerns of groundwater depletion and irrigation efficiency in Punjab agriculture: A micro-level study. Agric Econ Res Rev 21:191–199

    Google Scholar 

  • Karimi P, Qureshi AS, Bahramloo R, Molden D (2012) Reducing carbon emissions through improved irrigation and groundwater management: A case study from Iran. Agric Water Manag 108:52–60

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Laube W, Schraven B, Awo M (2012) Smallholder adaptation to climate change: dynamics and limits in Northern Ghana. Clim Chang 111(3–4):753–774

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Manoharan S, Devarajan N, Deivasahayam M, Ranganathan G (2011) Enriched efficiency with cost effective manufacturing technique in 3.7 kW submersible pump sets using DCR technology. Int J Electrical Engineering and Informatics 3(3):360–371

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • MOWR (2011) Report of the working group on major and medium irrigation and command area development for the XII Five year plan (2012–2017). Ministry of Water Resources, New Delhi: 1–206. http://planningcommission.nic.in/aboutus/committee/wrkgrp12/wr/wg_major.pdf

    Google Scholar 

  • Nelson GC, Robertson R, Msangi S, Zhu T, Liao X, Jawajar P (2009) Greenhouse gas mitigation issues for Indian agriculture. IFPRI Discussion Paper 00900 www.ifpri.org: 1–52

  • NPC (2009) State-wise electricity consumption and conservation potential in India: a summary report prepared by National Productivity Council (NPC) for Bureau of Energy Efficiency (BEE) Ministry of Power, Government of India: 1–206 assessed on 28.06.2013, www.emt-india.net/eca2009/14 Dec2009/combined summary report.pdf

  • Parsinejad M, Yazdani MR, Ebrahimian H (2009) Field and regional scale evaluation of irrigation efficiency in paddy fields case study: guilan, Iran. Irrig Drain 58(2):47–156

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Patle GT, Singh DK, Sarangi A, Rai A, Khanna M, Sahoo RN (2015) Time series aAnalysis of groundwater levels and projection of future trend. J Geol Soc India 85:232–242

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Rea I, Monaghan D (2009) Dewatering bore pumps- reducing costs and emissions by maximizing pumping efficiency over time. Min Technol 118(3–4):220–224

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Reddy KS, Kumar M, Maruthi V, Umesha B, Vijayalaxmi, Nageswar Rao CVK (2015) Dynamics of well irrigation systems and CO2 emissions in different agroecosystems of south Central India. Curr Sci 108(11):2063–2070

    Google Scholar 

  • Rothausen SGSA, Conway D (2011) Greenhouse gas emissions from energy use in the water sector. Nat Clim Chang 1(4):210–219

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Shah T (2009) Climate change and groundwater: India’s opportunities for mitigation and adaptation. Environ Res Lett 4(3):1–13

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Siebert S, Burke J, Faures JM, Frenken K, Hoogeveen J, Doll P, Portmann FT (2010) Groundwater use for irrigation– a global inventory. Hydrol Earth Syst Sci 14(10):1863–1880

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Sood J (2010) Demand side management of India. Bureau of energy efficiency, forumofregulators.gov.in/Reference/BEE_NPTI_16.11.10.ppt

  • Subramanian R (2009) Irrigation efficiency in Tamil Nadu and suggestions to improve further 60th International Executive Council Meeting & 5th Asian Regional Conference, 6–11 December 2009, New Delhi

  • Sugden C (2010) Carbon footprint of agricultural development: the potential impact of uptake of small electric and diesel pumps in five countries in Sub Saharan Africa. Stockholm Environment Institute, Working Paper-2010, Stockholm/York, 23

  • Tyson A, George B, Lu A, Nawarathna B, Malano H (2012) Energy and greenhouse gas emission accounting framework for groundwater use in agriculture. Irrig Drain 61(4):542–554

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Wang J, Rothausen SGSA, Conway D, Zhang L, Xiong W, Holman IP, Li Y (2012) China’s water–energy nexus: greenhouse-gas emissions from groundwater use for agriculture. Environ Res Lett 7(1):014035

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Wind BD, Wallender WW (1997) Fossil-fuel carbon emission control in irrigated maize production. Energy 22(8):827–846

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Zou X, Li YE, Li K, Cremades R, Gao Q, Wan Y, Qin X (2015) Greenhouse gas emissions from agricultural irrigation in China. Mitig Adapt Strateg Glob Chang 20:295–315

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgments

The authors are thankful to the Central Groundwater Board (CGWB), Chandigarh and Groundwater Cell, Karnal, Department of Agriculture and Irrigation, Government of Haryana, India and (NBSS & LUP), New Delhi for providing the necessary data and the Indian Agricultural Research Institute (IARI), New Delhi for providing the facilities and support for this research work.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Soil and Water Engineering, College of Agricultural Engineering and PHT, Ranipool, Sikkim, 737135, India

    G. T. Patle

  2. Water Technology Centre, Indian Agricultural Research Institute, New Delhi, 110012, India

    D. K. Singh, A. Sarangi & Manoj Khanna

Authors
  1. G. T. Patle
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author inPubMed Google Scholar

  2. D. K. Singh
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author inPubMed Google Scholar

  3. A. Sarangi
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author inPubMed Google Scholar

  4. Manoj Khanna
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author inPubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to G. T. Patle.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Patle, G.T., Singh, D.K., Sarangi, A. et al. Managing CO2 emission from groundwater pumping for irrigating major crops in trans indo-gangetic plains of India. Climatic Change 136, 265–279 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10584-016-1624-2

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10584-016-1624-2

Keywords

Profiles

  1. G. T. Patle View author profile