Parts of Haryana have salty groundwater and rains add to the salt content :

• The gripe appears quite conflicting given the insatiable need for irrigation and momentous groundwater depletion in the cereal bowl state of Haryana.
• In Haryana, salinity has tinkered so deeply with economic sustainability in the southern-western districts ofRohtak, Jhajjar, Sirsa, Jind, Bhiwani, Sonepat, Fatehabad and Mewatthat farmers there call themselves the “poor cousins” of those in other districts where the quality of soil and water is better.
• The problem has affected productivity on more than 3.2 lakh hectares, or around 10% of the total cultivated area in Haryana. In Punjab, high salt content in the groundwater is affecting c rps in district Fazlika, Abhor, Muktsar.
• The groundwater is salty in the affected areas and when it rains, the groundwater level comes up, bringing more salt to the surface.
• Rainwater surfaces more salt each year according to farmer who plants paddy and wheat on his fouracre field in Sonepat. Wheat production is 30-50% less than other districts with fertile soil, and we cannot imagine a third crop like vegetable in this soil.

Salinity taking over :

• Apart from injudicious surface water irrigation, the cup-shaped topography in Haryana has made it prone.
• The increase in area in Haryana is cause by the movement of subsurface saline water due to a vacuum created by pumping of sweet groundwater in adjoining areas. Out of 6.73 million hectares nationally affected by alkaline and salty soils, as much as 2.14 million hectares have so far been reclaimed.
• Predominantly, salts of chlorides and sulphates of sodium, calcium and magnesium have caused depletion of oxygen and increase of carbon dioxide in the root zone of crops, Sharma said. This causes the loss of plant nutrients and useful microorganisms at the expense of the growth of harmful ones.
• Even though salinity has affected fewer farmers in Punjab at present, it is increasing in some pockets. This is causing farmers to spend more on agricultural inputs, even as their farm output is falling.
• 25% higher dosage of urea as saline soil restricts absorption of nutrients by crops. As much as 25% of the cultivated land in the district is affected by salinity.
• Canal water is used for irrigation in most villages in the central and south-western districts in Haryana, as groundwater has become too saline for growing crops.
• The situation worsened after floods hit Rohtak in 1995, when waterlogging caused saline groundwater to come to the surface. Salinity has increased also in canal feed areas as irrigation has raised the groundwater level and surfaced saline water.

Slow Pace of Reclamation :

• ?Out of the 2.96 million hectares affected by salinity in India, around 15% is in Haryana.
• But due to a long-drawn process, narrow time window and lack of machinery, less than 70,000 hectares of saline land has been reclaimed nationally so far,  according to CSSRI( The Central Soil Salinity Research Institute). In the past 20 years, around 10,500 hectares has been reclaimed in Haryana.
• It will take 50 years to reclaim the saline soils completely at the current pace. Nationally, there are 6.73 million hectares with saline and alkaline soils that require reclamation.
• Reclamation through bio-drainage  by plating eucalyptus  has been achieved in low-lying areas in some blocks. To deal with falling agricultural output, varieties of wheat, paddy and mustard that are resistant to saline water and soil have been developed by CSSRI.