Can spring groundnut mitigate Punjab's groundwater crisis?

📌 Summary:

• Punjab faces one of India's worst groundwater crises — first from paddy, now from rapidly expanding spring/summer maize (a highly irrigated crop grown in the hottest months between rabi and kharif), which hit an all-time high of 8 lakh acres this year
• Scientists at KVK Kapurthala (under Punjab Agricultural University) are promoting spring groundnut as a sustainable alternative grown in the same season
• Water saving: spring maize needs 12-22 irrigation rounds in a 90-100 day crop; spring groundnut needs only 3-6 (often just 4) — a fraction of the water
• Better economics: groundnut costs Rs 8,000-10,000/acre vs maize Rs 18,500-22,500/acre; net returns over Rs 1 lakh/acre for groundnut vs Rs 74,000-78,000 for maize — an extra Rs 15,000-20,000/acre; residue fetches fodder income of Rs 5,000-6,000/acre
• Soil health: as a legume, groundnut fixes 25-60 kg nitrogen/hectare via root nodules, cutting fertiliser use
• Significance: offers crop diversification that reduces groundwater extraction without cutting farm income

🎯 UPSC Relevance: GS3 (crop diversification, groundwater depletion, sustainable agriculture, MSP distortions, farm economics)

📝 Prelims Facts:

• Spring/summer maize grown between rabi and kharif; spring groundnut needs only 3-6 irrigations vs maize's 12-22
• Groundnut (a legume) fixes 25-60 kg N/hectare via root nodules
• KVK = Krishi Vigyan Kendra; promoted by Punjab Agricultural University (PAU), Ludhiana
• Maize MSP cited at Rs 2,410/quintal; groundnut ~Rs 7,200/quintal market price

🔑 Key Term: Biological nitrogen fixation — leguminous crops' ability to convert atmospheric nitrogen into soil nitrogen via root-nodule bacteria, improving soil fertility.