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Solar Enery
Solar Energy- Fighting Climate Change

Solar Energy and Climate Change

Solar energy is turning out to be the best replacement for the conventional energy to fight climate change. Human activities, especially over the past few centuries, have been the bane for our environment. Burning fossil fuels to produce energy, expulsion of chlorofluorocarbons that clog the atmosphere, depletion of forest covers which serve as the lungs of the earth – these are only some of the activities which have led to the serious threat of global warming and irreversible climate change.

In fact, the effects of climate change are now more evident and quite visible – glaciers are melting, winter duration has reduced, weather patterns are changing. The reduction in the number of species that inhabit the planet is a result of global climate change and is a frightening example for the human species as well.

Despite such ominous signs, the advent of technology and the ingenuity of some human beings still gives us hope for the planet. Solar Energy is one of these hopeful solutions for a greener planet. It is a powerful solution to keep climate change at bay, especially if it can reach a massive scale, thanks to its virtually unlimited supply of fuel (the sun) and the large scale of land available to us for its deployment. This form of renewable energy helps in generating electricity using the sun’s radiation.

 

Solar Energy
Solar Energy- Fighting Climate Change
Even a 1 MW solar power plant can cut down carbon emissions by almost 1000 tonnes per annum, which is equivalent to planting about 5000 trees every year. Of course, trees have the added advantage of producing oxygen as well.

Imagine then, the positive impact that solar energy can have on climate change, if we were to adopt it across institutions and geographies.But let’s drill down and try to understand in detail why Solar Energy is being touted as the ultimate solution to deal with the crises of climate change.

• Solar Energy is a sustainable form of energy which will be a one-time investment and will provide long term benefits to people. Its sustainable nature will protect the needs of the present generation without compromising on the needs of future generations.
• Solar energy poses no threat to the planet as there no harmful emissions of any kind in its production
• Solar energy helps in reducing air and water pollution – Solar pumping water systems actually help in better distribution and conservation of water, and do not emit greenhouse gases and/or other air pollutants in the process
• Solar panels also help in reducing hazardous waste, resource mining (which help chemical industries lower the amount of waste that coal and oil based energy plants produce).
• Solar technology is cost effective, under economies of scale, and will reduce the dependency on expensive fuel and gas, thus, acting as a peacemaker for the customer
• Solar energy diminishes the risk of health hazards like respiratory issues, various kinds of cancers and cardiovascular problems.

Many countries like India, Spain, Germany and China are now leading the rest of the world in the implementation of solar energy.

 

Solar Energy
Solar Energy- Fighting Climate Energy

 

More than 29 million homes around the world now use solar panels for heating purposes. In the German city of Freiburg, solar panels can be commonly found on hotels, homes, schools, sports centers and hospitals. In Canada, solar energy can provide up to 90 percent of residential and commercial hot water heating at a cost far below the price of heating water with electricity.

Regardless of the harmful effects of burning fossil fuels on global climate, other energy sources will become more important in the future because fossil fuels could run out by the early twenty-second century given the present rate of consumption. This implies that sooner or later humanity will rely heavily on renewable energy sources. Going the Solar Energy way is consistent with the pollution reduction goals established by the Clean Power Plan.

Going Solar will help countries achieve its climate change policies even faster. Planning for the future can and must be done in parallel with promoting strong renewable growth in the present.
Solar energy is already helping address climate change. It’s time to put our feet on the accelerator.

Written By: Priyanka & Manaswita

Edited By: Anirban

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Water and Education are correlated in Ways that surprise most readers. The foremost question they ask is HOW?

We will start of with a background.

There are many places in India where scarcity of water prevails. The time which could be invested in studying is used up by children in walking miles and miles to gather water. School-going as well as college-going pupils also take part in helping their family to gather water for their daily needs.

According to a report submitted by the World Health Organisation access to clean water yields a supplementary  272 million school attendances every year. The more that clean water will be available the lesser will be the number of students taking leave from classes. As UNICEF points out “safe water and adequate sanitation are as important to quality education as pencils,books and teachers”.

Water and education together play a very crucial role in gender equality. Particularly in India, the responsibility of handling household chores is left on the shoulders of girls. Early in the morning, they get up and start the task of collecting water, they are always expected to sacrifice classes because they are duty bound. UNICEF also points out that in almost 45 developing countries the burden to fetch water falls on women, almost two third households are without a source of drinking water, whereas only 12 percent places are such where children collect water. All these issues can be solved if people have proper access to water. Clean water will  ensure proper sanitation facilities as well. Though a little off track but the recent blockbuster TOILET EK PREM KATHA depicts very clearly how important it is to have proper sanitation facilities.

Apart from this, the global campaign of education argues that in a post-2015 education agenda that quality education for all will be achieved if boys and girls in schools have access to separate toilets and hygiene. Lack of this facility ensures girl students missing school, since they are more likely to to need it than boys.

Without these basic necessities girl students will continue to be absent.

Water borne diseases like cholera, dysentery, diarrhea, typhoid etc add up the number of absent days for both teachers and students. Hygiene education in schools can battle this problem to a large extent.

A lack of proper access to water and sanitation will also reduce the number of quality teachers in schools and colleges.  without Skilled teachers there won’t be any educated students. Having a degree merely is not education, becoming literate is education in its true sense.

Rural areas are more prone to this problem. Children are seen carrying heavy pots and buckets on their backs, which consumes their valuable school time, while further weakening their tender spines.

54% of India’s total area goes through extreme water stress especially the northwestern areas including states of Punjab and Haryana. Southern states are not left behind, Karnataka faces acute water shortage during the summer months. Even the capital of India is badly affected by water problems. The Delhi government acknowledges the problem and conveys that 22 out of 30 residents face daily shortages. Jamshedpur , Kanpur, Vishakhapatnam, Meerut, Hyderabad are also other badly affected areas. If such is the condition in urban areas then we can imagine how dull would be the scenario in rural areas. Rural areas adjoining these cities face more problems because here children along with their parents and elders indulge in fighting this problem by skipping daily constructive activities like going to school or college, or any wages earning activity.

People who lack access to both water and education face the ominous status of poverty. They are unable to get proper employment and are more prone to health hazards.

Education in these societies will help in the development of the population here. The youth, if educated properly, will find more ways of water conservation and be more efficient in dealing with the repercussions caused of water scarcity . They can bring more prosperity to their native land. Further, they can imbibe education in other people as well. Many will step out to study further and become professionally stable. They can come back and set up better infrastructure and encourage people to have proper sanitation systems. The more the population will be educated the more will be the chances of having a better environment in a particular area. Hence, water and education are interdependent. Though, one can exist without the other but jointly they will flourish.

Education is a tool which can overcome every hurdle

Written By: Manaswita Sachdeva

Claro Energy has emerged as a major player in the Indian Solar landscape. We are all set to render our services to power non-profit, residential and commercial projects in Gujarat.  The project is promoted by Gujarat Energy Development Agency (GEDA), which is the state nodal agency to promote renewable energy.  By investing in solar energy, not  only it will help in reducing our dependency on expensive and harmful to the environment fossil fuels, it will also combat the global terror of climate change by cutting down carbon emission. Climate change already contributes to serious environmental and public health issues, including extreme weather events, rising sea levels, and ecosystem changes. It’s high time we make the right switch and save the environment.

There are two categories for solar Roof-top in Gujarat.

1. Residential Rooftop Programme by GEDA :

  • All residential and charitable organisations can avail the services and subsidy benefits.
  •  There is a subsidy component of Rs. 10,000 per KW upto a maximum of Rs. 20,000 (i.e. 2 KW) from GEDA. Plus a 30% subsidy from MNRE.
  • Residential Consumer can install solar power plant upto 100% of the sanction load from MGVCL.
  •  Authorized channel partners charge only the NET of subsidy amount. The below table gives a comprehensive idea about the costs and generation of power.
    System Size 1 KW 2 KW 3KW 4KW 5KW 6KW 7KW 8KW 9KW 10KW
    Shadow free Area Required (Sq Ft) 100 200 300 400 500 600 700 800 900 1000
    Annual Electricity Production (KWh) 1400 2800 4200 5600 7000 8400 9800 11200 12600 14000
    Price 69000 138000 207000 276000 345000 414000 483000 552000 621000 690000
    MNRE Subsidy 20700 41400 62100 82800 103500 124200 144900 165600 186300 207000
    GEDA Subsidy 10000 20000 20000 20000 20000 20000 20000 20000 20000 20000
    Net Cost to Customer 38300 76600 124900 173200 221500 269800 318100 366400 414700 463000
2. Commercial Rooftop Segment :
a. There is no set price for Commercial Rooftops but it my vary from 70 Rs/ KW to Rs. 59 Rs./KW depending upon the plant size. As the plant becomes bigger, the cost comes down.
b. Commercial consumers can install solar power plant  upto 50% of their sanctioned load.
c. There are no state or central subsidies for this segment but there is 40% accelerated depreciation which effectively translates into 24% tax rebate over two years.

Get in touch with us to deploy Rooftop Solar solutions for you. Get a 30% subsidy by contacting us NOW!

Contact  Mr.  Amit Magnani on +91-8160754324

Email: rooftop@13.233.214.20

 

Our Energy Partner

Lucidus Energy

India is a country with incredible diversity, and this rich diversity results in a large number of different festivities and their celebrations. One such major carnival is the Ganesh chaturthi festival. Every year Ganesh chaturthi is celebrated with great pomp and show. It is usually a 10-day long festival which begins by placing Lord Ganesha’s idols privately at homes and then marking its end by submerging them into water bodies, regarded as holy immersion. These festivities bring people together and are a source of social happiness annually. Unfortunately though, our methods of celebration have a downside, in terms of impact on the planet.

Most of the idols are made from toxic, non-biodegradable materials including plastic, paper, cement, non-natural colors, plaster of Paris etc which do not fully dissolve in water and end up contaminating it. Read more details about the polluting impact.

Ill effects on the environment

  1. Whenever these toxic chemicals start dissolving in water bodies, they have a lethal effect on aquatic life killing fish, frogs and other water sustaining organisms.
  2. Plaster of paris is a substance which cannot completely dissolve in water, it reduces oxygen level in the water, which again poses a threat to living beings.
  3. Sometimes even paper is used to make idols of shree Ganesha and it’s a myth that this is an eco friendly way because little do people know that paper also reduces the oxygen level in the water and generates methane gas. Apart from that, trees are cut down to make paper and even wasting paper itself is not environmentally friendly.
  4. The polluted water becomes a factor for many health hazards to humans, like skin infections, breathing problems etc.
  5. All these impurities lead to an increase in the acid content in the water.
  6. The careless immersion also blocks the natural flow of water, which again leads to the breeding of harmful mosquitoes and pests in water.

In the state of Maharashtra, every year an estimated 190,000 idols are immersed in water, idols that are made up of non-biodegradable material which increases water degradation levels. Fishing communities finds pieces of immersed idols entangled in their fishing nets, even after several days of immersion, which gives us evidence that these pieces do not get fully dissolved. The Central Pollution Control Board reports that annual immersion has significantly increased the amount of iron,copper,lead, mercury, chromium and acid in these water bodies. In 2015 after Ganpati celebrations, dead fish were found in the Milap nagar lake in Dombivli East, Mumbai.

The Ganesh Chaturthi festival is celebrated to pay homage to lord Ganesha and seek his blessings, but this type of devastation in the name of celebration will shun the ideals of Lord Ganesha. We are not only damaging our source of living but also, from a religious point of view, not living up to that particular God’s ideals.

A change needs to happen. Eco friendly means of celebration should be adopted. Instead of the toxic materials currently in use, we can change the contents of idols to mud, rose petals, leaves, herbal colours, coconut tusks, alums, chocolates etc. In 2017, we have seen idols made of cow dung gaining popularity.

True blessings can reach us only when we take good care of our surroundings, and ensure that our forms of worship and celebration do not amount to being a threat to the nature around us.

Written By: Manaswita Sachdeva

Edited By: Anirban Banerjee

As India’s solar capacity is increasing, more subsidy coming in and ever declining installation cost most of the Indian states have upped their renewable energy game. One such state is Madhya Pradesh which will very soon going to have one of the world’s largest solar pv power plant. Mr Shivraj Singh, Chief Minister  of Madhya  Pradesh has approved the proposal for commissioning the world’s largest solar power plant in the Rewa District.

Currently Madhya Pradesh ranks positioned at no 6 in terms of solar power installed capacity and after the completion of this project it will rise to the top position. Once completed, the project is expected to generate about 1.25 billion units of electricity every year, offsetting about 1 million tonnes of CO2 emissions.

Claro Energy is working relentlessly working king towards a cleaner and sustainable environment and uplifting lives with clean-tech solutions. Claro is all set to light up Madhya Pradesh and will install a of 1MW capacity solar rooftop in Central MP Discom areas of Bhopal, Hoshangabad,Gwalior and Jabalpur. This scheme is exclusively for non-profit organisations with a 30% subsidy from Madhya Pradesh Madhya Kshetra Vidyut Vitran Company Limited (MPMKVVCL).

Claro Energy has long been established as a major player in the Indian solar landscape. Now we are bringing our services to power non-profit projects in Madhya Pradesh.

If you are managing

  • A Residential*,  Social** or Institutional*** project, and

  • Want it to be powered by future-ready technology,

  • With a requirement capacity of 100 KW or more

Get in touch with us to deploy Rooftop Solar solutions for you. Get a 30% subsidy (Limited Window Opportunity) by contacting us NOW!

Contact us on +91-8160754324

 

*All types of Residential buildings

**Community centres, Welfare homes, Old Age homes, Orphanages, Common service centres, common workshops for artisans or craftsmen, facilities for use of Community, Trusts/NGOs/Voluntary organizations/Training Institutions, any other establishments for common public use etc. (applicable to not-for-profit registered organizations only)

***Schools, health institutions including medical colleges & hospitals, universities, educational institutions etc (applicable to not-for-profit registered organizations only)

India plays an important role in the Earth’s ongoing fight against global warming. She is among a group of developing nations that seek to move away from conventional, polluting coal energy toward clean but less established sources of renewable energy. India, is the world’s 4th largest carbon emitter (after China, the U.S. and the EU) at present, and is one of the countries to have signed on the Paris Climate Agreement (2016).

But despite being a major polluter, or perhaps because it realizes the significance of being one, India is on track today to meet and even exceed the ambitious climate goals set at Paris. In the last two years India has made tremendous progress in shifting away from coal and toward renewables, fueled by ambitious goal-setting and supportive government policies. What’s crucial now is developing the financial infrastructure to fund small-scale projects and newer technologies to ensure that clean, renewable power reaches India’s rural areas.

In the week where we celebrated the nation’s 70th Independence Day, we bring you 5 reasons to admire India or feel proud (if you are an Indian) when it comes to the subject of renewable energy.

 

Rapid Installations

India has added 9 GW of solar power in the past two years, for a total of 12 GW of total solar power capacity. The country has abundant solar power potential. With the objective of emerging as the country with the largest solar power capacity, the various enterprises of India are aiming towards doubling the the previously mentioned figures. The country, by achieving this goal, can enter the league of nations that currently include China, the USA, Japan, in terms of solar power generation capacity.

 

 

Huge increase in Solar Capacity

India’s solar generation capacity has expanded by about 370 % in the past three years. According to a report by Bloomberg New Energy Finance, another 37 GW will be added by 2020. India is also expected to expand the growth of its solar market by 90 % this year. The central government has also announced many incentives which will help in completing existing solar projects. However, in order to make the most of solar power, Indian citizens must be educated about the advantages and usage of solar energy.

 

 

Breaking the hegemony of Coal

Coal has been India’s fossil fuel of choice for generating electrical energy. Coal has ruled the Indian energy sector, for hundreds of years now. The need for a better, greener alternative was never more necessary. Emissions from coal burning deteriorates the quality of air and forms the cause of various ailments – this has become a major mitigating factor in the usage of coal.

The growth of the solar sector and the resonance of clean energy have started chipping away at the dominance of coal. Many Indian states have scrapped their plans to build new coal fired plants and declared a cancellation of various coal mining projects. BNEF projects that by 2040, coal will no longer play the role of a superpower in the Indian society.

 

 

The world’s largest single-location solar power plant

Kurnool, in Andhra Pradesh, is currently the site of the world’s largest single-location solar park, which has a potential capacity of 1,000 mega watts. With 900 MW already commissioned, it has outpaced the 648 MW solar park developed by Adani Industries in Tamil Nadu and Topaz Solar Park of 550 MW in California.

The project site is located about 280 km from Hyderabad. The park has been developed under the solar parks scheme of MNRE and set up by the Andhra Pradesh Solar Power Corporation, a joint venture company. About ₹7,000 crore has been invested in the park by developers and the government.

 

 

Growth of renewable energy touched the 7th Sky

Government aims high and works towards enhancing large scale as well as small scale industries to ramp up in solar energy production such as rooftop solar. Installation of solar parks across the nation are on the verge of enhancement. The government of India has set a target of installing 40 GW of rooftop solar and electrifying 18,000 villages by 2022. More use of solar batteries is encouraged. Urban as well as rural sector make use of solar panels to generate electricity. Obstacles which used to  block the pathway of production due to lack of resources is being rescued.

These facts make India one of the leading nations to fight against Pollutants. India has completed 71 years of independence and we must take pride in various enterprises which have worked so hard to achieve this agenda of making India a healthy nation to live. We make best use of nature to provide cleaner and a healthier  atmosphere, we have freed ourselves from infected environment. This is freedom secured in true sense.

Written By: Manaswita

Edited By: Anirban Banerjee

How Rise in Population is Leading to Water Scarcity

 

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Water is one of the most important natural resources on Earth, a key element of life for every living being on this planet. While the sources of water may seem to be in abundance (consider the oceans and seas), only less than one percent of the world’s water is actually usable for basic human needs. This relatively minuscule amount has to be shared by many competing users. This usable water is freshwater, found not in our oceans, but in our rivers, lakes, under the ground, and in rainwater. With so many beings vying for its availability, the resultant stress on freshwater is leading to water scarcity in almost all corners of the world. The World Wide Fund for Nature said that almost two-thirds of the world’s population could suffer from water shortage by 2025 . While the reasons for this imminent catastrophe vary from altered weather patterns to increased pollution, what is cited as perhaps the most important factor influencing this is the uncontrolled expansion in the population of the human species.

 

 

For thousands of years, human population grew only slowly, gradually – at a rate that was not yet weighing on nature’s resources – but in recent centuries this rate has jumped dramatically. This exponential rise has led to a population explosion in the last two hundred years. This uncontrolled rise in population has inordinately increased the demand for water and mounted pressure on the already finite and scarce resources of the planet. The demand for water for domestic, industrial, agricultural and municipal needs and also evacuation for waste materials – these have skyrocketed in the past few decades. Certain geographies have been more affected than others.

 

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The most water-scarce areas are typically those with fewer water resources, a relatively high existing population density, and an even higher population growth rate. It is certain that population growth will further impact water availability.

Measurement of water scarcity

The sources of water may seem to be in abundance, but only less that one percent of the world’s water can be used for basic human needs. This little amount has to be shared by many competing users. Stress on freshwater due to rising demand is already leading to water scarcity in many places. Water in many cases is even a major cause for political tensions between nations.

 

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In light of these issues, the extent of water scarcity needs to be measured in order to understand the magnitude of the development work necessary. There are various ways to measure water scarcity, one such is by determining per capita availability and percentage of water used within a certain national boundary.

As a general benchmark, countries can be classified as water scarce if there are fewer than 1,000 cubic meters of renewable fresh water available per person per year, and as water stressed if there are between 1,000 and 1,667 cubic meters available per person per year.2 Approximately 2 billion people are currently living in areas faced with water stress or scarcity. Water scarcity affects all social and economic sectors and threatens the health of ecosystems.

 

 

Larger the population, higher the (water) tension

The rise in population leads to higher demand for water for domestic, industrial, agricultural and municipal needs and also evacuation for waste materials. The most water scarce areas are typically those with few water resources, high population, and even higher population growth rates. E.g most of the world’s water scarce areas is from MENA (The Middle East and North Africa) regions, where they are currently unable to meet their basic water demand. 7 of the world’s top 10 water scarce countries are from the MENA region.

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With per capita water availability projected to fall by half by 2050, the situation is likely to be dire in the coming years. 5 Projections show that by 2035, 3.6 billion people will be living in areas with water stress or scarcity, as population growth causes more countries and regions to become water scarce.

 

 

If we were to try and trace the reasons for overpopulation, there a broad few that we can circle out. The rise in birth rate either due to bad family planning or illiteracy is a big cause for population growth in India. An estimated 215 million women in developing countries want to avoid pregnancy but are not using modern contraception. 

                                                                    Image  Source

To repress this accelerated loss of natural resources, serious measures need be taken in order to slow down the rate of population growth. This can lead to more people accessing clean and safe water universally, in the years to come. Though the challenge of a rapidly growing population, on the efforts to provide adequate and clean water to every citizen, has been acknowledged in various policies and planning documents, there is still an urgent need for effective policies to be drafted and implemented to combat population growth. Increasing access to voluntary family planning services can help slow population growth, and complement ongoing efforts to ensure adequate and clean water for all.

 

Written by: Prakriti Sharma & Priyanka Pandey

Edited by: Anirban Banerjee

 

 


Peerla banda Tanda, is a village in Rangareddy district, Telangana, with a population of a mere 120 people. This is one such village where, in spite of grid connectivity, there is an irregular or negligible power supply for days. It is the complete representation of how impoverished and underdeveloped a village can be, especially in the face of infrastructure failure. Almost every household in the village used to have a water pipeline and bore well. However, it turned out to be of no use to the villagers as they didn’t have the basic requirement of proper access to electricity supply to make the bore well pumps run. Villagers had to walk miles just to collect a few liters of drinking water. The situation was so grave that villagers were forced to use water only for drinking purposes and had to go without bathing and cleaning for many days.

 

 

The installation of a solar pump in Peerla Banda tanda was a result of Claro Energy undertaking a Drinking Water project for the Telangana (erstwhile Andhra Pradesh) government’s Rural Water Supply and Sanitary System (RWSS&S) body, which was promoted by the Ministry of Renewable Energy,

 

 

This solar water pump not only helped the villagers get access to on-demand clean drinking water every day but also incorporated storage of water in overhead tanks. This made water available for cleaning and sanitation purposes, as well. Now with access to water, the people of the village could do what was unthinkable to them before. Their basic needs – such as bathing daily, proper sanitation – were finally met.

 

 

Claro Energy, with the support of the government and the Sarpanch of Gandeed block, has ensured that no child has to miss school and no adult has to forgo potential daily wage earnings. Villagers do not have to walk kilometers in the scorching heat, anymore, just to fetch a few liters of water.

Challenges

All this did not arrive on a smooth path, though. The installation team of Claro Energy faced a fair few roadblocks which they had to overcome to make the project a success. Firstly, this village was in a very remote corner of Telangana. Transportation of solar panels and other installation material to the site was a major hurdle in itself. A variety of transport modes, including both large and small goods vehicles, non-motorized vehicles, and, to a certain extent, by foot. An unprecedented second issue was convincing villagers. Being a fairly remote area, education levels of the locals were not high enough for them to understand how electricity can be generated from the sun. They simply did not believe such a thing was possible and thought it was some kind of scam to their detriment. This caused them to be non-cooperative with the installation team. As local help is of utmost importance to an installation process, it was imperative to convince the villagers about this concept. Apart from a lot of convincing by both the sarpanch and Claro staff, the nail was finally hit on the head by taking some of the villagers to a nearby project and showing them, much to their astonishment, exactly how the setup worked.

 

 

Access to clean water is the basic right of every human being, and Claro Energy, as an organization, is committed to fighting the water scarcity problem facing the most remotely located populace of this country. Clean drinking water uplifts livelihoods The Peerla Banda Tanda drinking water project is one such story.

water intensive crop, claro energy

 

In the scope of Indian agriculture, a variety of crops is cultivated in India due to the vastly distinct weather and soil conditions that are available in various topographies across the country. These crops are majorly divided into food grains, cash crops, plantation crops and horticulture crops. Water is one of the essential resources that are required for proper growth of these crops. The majority of the farmers are still dependant on growing water intensive crops. Irrigation water, exclusive of precipitation and stored moisture, is required to meet the consumption rate of a crop during its growth period. But the amount of irrigation water required differs for each plant, not only because different plants need to survive different environments, but also because each plant has its own unique physical features.The rural Indian population is largely dependent on agriculture as its primary source of livelihood. Agriculture is one of the major contributors to India’s GDP, with an 18% share (KPMG report), this population plays an integral role in the Indian Economy.

In this regard, we would like to highlight some of the most water intensive crops that are popularly grown by Indian farmers

Rice

rice crop

 

Rice acts as one of the most important staple food in the world and India is one of its largest producers. However, its production requires a great quantity of water. The rise in population has led to an increase in the demand for food crops; in turn escalating the amount of water required for irrigating them. Traditional farming needs 3,000 to 5,000 liters of water to produce a kilo of rice. The crop requires flooded soil for its growth as it suppresses weed growth and increases the uptake of nutrients from the soil for better yield. In India, it is grown in West Bengal, Uttar Pradesh, Andhra Pradesh, Punjab, Bihar, Orissa, Chhattisgarh, Assam, Tamil Nadu and Haryana.

Cotton

cotton crop claro energy

 

Also known as ‘white gold’, Cotton is a Kharif crop. India is one of the largest producers as well as exporters of cotton yarn. On an average, India uses 22,500 liters of water to produce 1 kg of cotton. Most Indian cotton is grown in drier regions. States cultivating this crop the most are Gujarat, Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh, Haryana, Madhya Pradesh, Punjab, Rajasthan, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu and Orissa.

Sugarcane

 

India is the second largest producer of this popular cash crop. It has one of the longest growing periods and its growth can come to an untimely halt if there is a shortage of water. Generally crops require 300-500mm of rainfall/water for their growth; however, sugar cane requires 1,500-2,500mm of rainfall/water to complete the growth cycle. Therefore, the crop requires 1500-3000 liters of water to produce a kilo of sugarcane! In India, Uttar Pradesh, Maharashtra, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, Bihar, Gujarat, Haryana, Uttarakhand, and Punjab are the major producers of this crop.

Soya

 

With 12 million tons of production; Soybean is one of the fastest growing crops in India.  The crop is considered to be well suited for Indian soil. A major source of protein, vegetable oil, and animal feed, the crop requires around 900 liters of water for 1 kilo worth produce. This crop is majorly grown in Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, and Rajasthan.

Wheat

 

After the Green Revolution, wheat production in India has been on the rise. After rice, wheat is the most consumed crop by the Indian population. Not just that, our country is also one of the largest exporters of all varieties of wheat, making us the second largest producer of the crop worldwide. However, the fact that cannot be ignored is that 900 litres of water is required to produce 1kg of wheat. In India, this crop’s production is mainly in the northern region – Uttar Pradesh, Punjab, Madhya Pradesh, Haryana, Rajasthan, Bihar, Gujarat, Maharashtra, West Bengal and Uttarakhand are the major producers of this crop.

We can, therefore, see how Economic growth is indirectly dependent on fresh water. There needs to be an understanding that for greater agricultural productivity, for there to be a better harvest, there needs to be enough water. If water is used up by such water-intensive crops, there will come a time when there will be no water for agriculture. Most of these crops are grown in dry areas, which do not receive ample rainfall, and the farmers are either dependent on other freshwater sources or groundwater pumps. In a country like India, where 76 million people do not have access to safe drinking water, using up a great amount of water in such crops seems unfair. Water intensive agriculture takes away liters of water that can be used to help a significant population survive. Cultivation of these crops has even endangered some areas of water scarcity. In fact, due to intense drought conditions year after year, there have been multiple pleas by local officials for farmers to switch to pulses and oilseeds in Rampur. Tamil Nadu government has also asked farmers to switch to millets and pulses from rice, as the new crops will use less water and are as nutritious. However, in some areas, switching to different crops cannot be considered an ideal solution because of climatic limitations, soil requirements etc, therefore, a switch to better irrigation techniques like drip irrigation can be taken up. Furthermore, groundwater irrigation pumps are either dependent on irregular grid electricity or diesel, causing additional strain on the current environmental conditions. Solar powered pumps can be considered a model solution to overcome that problem. The water needs of these crops need to be considered to formulate an immediate solution.

Our water woes can be addressed by our own everyday use of water. Save water before it’s too late.

 

Written By: Prakriti Sharma

Edited By: Anirban Banerjee