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

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 CO 2 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 CO 2 emission from groundwater irrigation in an agriculturally dominant district, Karnal of Haryana in India, and to explore the possibility of reducing CO 2 emission through various management alternatives. This study indicates that the CO 2 emission from groundwater irrigation for baseline scenario is the highest for sugarcane (93 kgCO 2 /ha/m) followed by rice (40 kgCO 2 /ha/m), wheat (28 kgCO 2 /ha/m), mustard (26 kgCO 2 /ha/m), pigeon pea (14 kgCO 2 /ha/m) and pearl millet (4 kgCO 2 /ha/m). However, on a district level, the total CO 2 emission under the baseline scenario is highest for rice (140,655 Mt) followed by wheat (98,153 Mt) and sugarcane (18,416 Mt). Higher CO 2 emissions from rice and wheat are due to more area under these crops. Results also indicate that CO 2 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, CO 2 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, CO 2 emissions can be reduced up to 48 % for rice and other crops.