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244 Economic Survey 2021-22

use efficiency and sustainability of soil health. The existing cropping pattern is skewed towards
cultivation of sugarcane, paddy and wheat which has led to depletion of fresh ground water
resources at an alarming rate in many parts of our country. Map 1 shows baseline water stress
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for different regions of India. It shows that the regions where the crops like paddy, wheat and
sugarcane are grown have high to extremely high stress levels.

Map 1: Baseline Water Stress in Various Parts of India in 2015

Source: World Resources Institute
7.23 In view of the above, Crops Diversification Programme (CDP) is being implemented in
the original green revolution states viz. Punjab, Haryana and Western UP as a sub scheme of
Rashtriya Krishi Vikas Yojana (RKVY) since 2013-14 to shift area under paddy cultivation
towards less water requiring crops such as oilseeds, pulses, coarse cereals, nutri cereals, cotton,
etc. The CDP also focuses on shifting of areas under tobacco farming to alternative crops/
cropping system in tobacco growing States, namely, Andhra Pradesh, Bihar, Gujarat, Karnataka,
3. Baseline water stress implies the ratio of total annual water withdrawals to total available annual
renewable supply