Nagesh Maurya2025-10-072025-05-22https://dans.nls.ac.in/handle/123456789/2438India’s agriculture sector, which plays a significant role in ensuring food security and sustaining rural livelihoods is increasingly under threat from unsustainable groundwater usage. This issue is specifically acute in Uttar Pradesh which is country's largest sugarcane-producing state and contributes nearly 45% of India’s total sugarcane production. Approximately 70% of sugarcane fields in the state are irrigated by tube wells, reflecting a major shift from surface water irrigation to groundwater-based irrigation. This shift is largely driven by government policies of electricity subsidies through fixed tariff pricing and Minimum Support Price (MSP) mechanism in the form of Fair and Remunerative price (FRP). These policies have enhanced agricultural productivity but also leads to overexploitation of groundwater. This study adopts a mixed method research design, combining panel regression analysis of sugarcane producing districts, primary fieldwork and carbon emission estimation to assess the multi-dimensional impact of groundwater depletion on sugarcane farming. These impacts are analysed and interpreted within the theoretical framework of ‘Water-Energy-Food’ (WEF) nexus which highlights the interdependent nature of water, energy and food systems. Findings suggest that a 1-meter drop in groundwater level is associated with a 3.67% increase in sugarcane yield apparently counterintuitive result but can be explained by farmers increased investment into deeper tubewells as corroborated by data from the Minor Irrigation Census. However, these practices raise serious questions about long term sustainability of groundwater-based irrigation. The study finds that groundwater depletion disproportionately impacts smaller farmers. It results in an increasing reliance on deeper tubewells which causes financial burdens for smaller farmers. Many farmers take debt on their land from cooperatives, or kisan credit cards to continue groundwater irrigation while some small farmers also turn to water markets to buy water which significantly increases their cost of production. Small farmers in Saidpura Khurd (over-exploited) village face higher costs (Rs. 272–425/hour) than larger farmers (Rs. 76– 92/hour) due to smaller tubewell operating hours annually and water purchases from informal markets (Rs. 60/hour). This leads to an increase in loan dependency and decline in profit margins resulting in widening of socio-economic disparities among farmers. The study also estimates carbon emissions from sugarcane irrigation which amount to 7.36 million tonnes CO₂e annually. The Carbon footprint of electric pumps is around 4.04 tonnes CO₂e/ha significantly higher than diesel pumps (1.51 tonnes CO₂e/ha) primarily due to India’s coal-based electricity production. These findings of the study highlight the urgent need for integrated policy interventions within the WEF nexus to address the issue of groundwater depletion in Uttar Pradesh.enThesis