Precision land leveling To save water in south asia
Farmers on over 1.5 million hectares (ha) in South Asia’s vast rice-wheat cropping zones are using a high-tech approach to level their farmland, allowing them to save 15-30 percent irrigation water and benefit from up to 6 percent higher yields for rice, wheat and other crops, over farmers who work traditionally-plowed fields.
The recent study “Impacts of Laser Land Leveling in Rice-Wheat Systems of the North–western Indo-Gangetic Plains of India” concluded that if 50 percent of the area under the rice-wheat system in Haryana and Punjab States were precision leveled, this would add 0.7 million tons of rice and nearly 1 million tons of wheat to harvests each year, representing an annual market value of US $385 million, with significant savings in irrigation water.
“In northwestern India, water and electricity for irrigation are highly-subsidized,” said M.L. Jat, CIMMYTsenior cropping systems agronomist. “State governments must incentivize sustainable practices and technologies to stop groundwater depletion.”
During 1967-79, wheat production tripled in India, due in part to the widespread adoption of high-yielding varieties and fertilizer but supported as well by a huge expansion in irrigated area and subsidized electricity for irrigation pumps. By 2008, 90 percent of India’s total fresh groundwater use was for agricultural, and major aquifers in the North were falling as much as a meter every three years.
“From just 37 precision levelers during the Rice-Wheat Consortium days (1990s-early 2000s), there are now approximately 25,000 machines available,” said Jat. According to Jat, the success of precision levelers in Punjab Province is due largely to the “localization of manufacturing; thanks to the involvement of local shops, the cost of a precision leveler has dropped one third, from more than US $12,000 to about $4,600.”
First used in Pakistan, precision leveling was studied and promoted region-wide through joint work by CIMMYT, IRRI, and national research programs during 1994-2008. Since 2011, CIMMYT in collaboration with the CGIAR Research Program on Climate Change, Agriculture and Food Security (CCAFS) has studied and promoted laser land leveling in the western Indo-Gangetic Plains, in conjunction with research on conservation agriculture (CA) practices such as smart fertilizer application, zero tillage, direct seeded rice and residue management.
The business of leveling
Jagdeep Singh from Kanoi village in Punjab’s Sangrur district has been providing tractor services to local farmers since 1998.
He was introduced to precision leveling by Punjab Agricultural University in 2008. “I used the machine to level 4 hectares of my land and saved 25-30 percent of my water. This was so encouraging that I bought my own machine the very next year,” said Singh.
In 2009, Singh leveled approximately 200 ha of land for nearly 200 farmers across 17 villages. “Initially, farmers used to get just one or two acres leveled to see if it helps. But now, most are getting 4 to 6 hectares leveled at a time,” said Singh. In light of the high demand, Singh purchased a second machine in 2013 and the following year leveled over 400 ha, charging US $16 per hour for his services.
