India: too dry for rice cultivation?

  • last year
India is one of the world’s largest producers of rice. But water-intensive cultivation uses 60,000 liters of water per kilo - even more than for beef. Because water is becoming increasingly scarce, India has stopped exporting white rice.

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00:00 Punjab, a region in northern India.
00:04 Rice paddies as far as the eye can see.
00:07 Farmers harvest the plants, which remain partially submerged for weeks.
00:13 Wet rice cultivation is a traditional method that needs huge amounts of water.
00:19 But rice is not an aquatic plant, it merely tolerates water.
00:25 The problem, more and more often it doesn't rain, not even during the monsoon,
00:30 the rainy season from June to September.
00:33 Dry periods are getting longer and rains are often heavy rather than steady.
00:38 But the hard thing is that they are not sufficient,
00:41 and the rainfall is not sufficient to grow rice, so they depend on groundwater irrigation.
00:49 The lack of rain causes the soil to dry out even further.
00:54 That's why farmers now use water from canals and wells, causing groundwater levels to sink.
01:00 But paradoxically, even more rice is being planted.
01:05 India's main farming regions lie in the north, where the popular Basmati variety has grown.
01:13 India's rice exports have doubled over the last four years,
01:18 from about 10 million tons in 2019 to more than 22 million tons.
01:26 Water shortages and increasing exports, the gap is growing ever wider,
01:30 which is why the Indian government has now slammed on the brakes and banned the export of white rice.
01:38 To begin with, rice has surged to the highest almost in 12 years.
01:43 The July data by the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization, FAO,
01:49 with the forecast of dry weather led by El Nino,
01:52 this has led to the government's preemptive move of curtailing exports from the nation.
01:59 Billions of people across the globe.
02:01 And the category of rice that has witnessed export bans from India
02:06 is a major food commodity for people in Asia, Africa, and the Middle East region.
02:13 Among other places, Indian rice is exported to the US, Europe, Iran, and other Middle Eastern countries.
02:22 High temperatures in the El Nino weather phenomenon, with its unusual air and ocean currents,
02:28 are causing India's water supplies to drop even further.
02:32 Agriculture there currently consumes 80% of its fresh water.
02:37 The amount of water needed to produce specific foods is called virtual or hidden water.
02:42 This allows an ecological water footprint to be calculated, similar to a CO2 footprint.
02:48 And rice farming's footprint is especially huge.
02:54 So how much virtual water do foods need?
02:58 60,000 liters of it are needed for a single kilogram of rice.
03:03 A liter of orange juice requires 40,000, and a kilo of beef takes 20,000 liters to produce.
03:10 So how can rice be grown more sustainably?
03:13 Farmers are seeking new solutions.
03:18 The water level has sunk by up to three meters in our country each year.
03:24 We've decided to sow rice directly, as it uses less water.
03:31 With direct sowing, the rice isn't sown directly into the water, but instead onto non-flooded fields,
03:38 an efficient alternative that saves resources.
03:43 With direct rice sowing, I've saved almost 30% of my water.
03:47 This hasn't compromised the quality of my rice at all.
03:53 The Punjab state government offers farmers 1500 rupees, or about 18 euros,
03:59 as compensation per season if they switch to the new methods.
04:04 Farmers and grocers both hope to rely on other types of grains and vegetables in the future,
04:10 instead of water-intensive rice.
04:12 Ginger, potatoes, onions and tomatoes are also traditionally grown in India.
04:18 This way, farming could become more responsible and more sustainable.