By Mayank Bhardwaj

KARNAL, India, May 31 (Reuters) - Fast depleting soil nutrients and a declining water table are likely to take a toll on India's top two wheat producing states, a leading farm scientist said on Thursday.

Jag Shoran, principal scientist at the Directorate of Wheat Research, said a drop in yields in the northern states of Punjab and Haryana, which together produce more than 40 percent of India's wheat output, will cause a severe shortage of the grain in the country where demand is on the rise.

India, which turned self-sufficient in foodgrains after a green revolution in the 1960s, was forced to import 5.5 million tonnes of wheat in 2006, for the first time in six years, after a poor crop.

"The water table is receding at an alarming 75 centimetres annually," Shoran said in an interview, adding over-tilling and improper use of fertilisers were depleting soil nutrients.

The government-run directorate helps farmers adopt better seeds and modern farm techniques in the two states.

In India, only 40 percent of the cultivable land is irrigated.

"Every year farmers have to bore deeper to pump water out," Shoran said. "Where water was available at 60-70 feet some time back, it is at more than 100 feet, especially in Punjab and Haryana."

Five thousand litres of water is used to produce one kg of rice and 3,000 litres to grow one kg of wheat, he said.

CHANGING LIFESTYLES

India needs 70 million tonnes of wheat annually to feed its 1.1 billion population. The country produced 69.3 million tonnes in 2006, down from government's earlier estimates of around 74 million tonnes.

Wheat output in India, the world's second-largest producer, is estimated at 73.7 million tonnes in 2007, according to government forecast.

An expanding Indian economy, which grew 9.4 percent in the fiscal year ended March 2007, and changing lifestyle have fueled demand for foodgrains, especially for wheat while output has not gone up, pushing prices higher.

India will have to expand wheat to non-traditional areas like northern states of Bihar and Uttar Pradesh, Shoran said.

"Punjab and Haryana cannot double the production. There is a possibility to do so by growing more wheat in eastern Uttar Pradesh and Bihar," he said.

"There can be revolution in these two states because of deep, sweet water for irrigation."

A government policy advisory panel has also favoured taking advantage of plenty of ground water in states like Bihar and Uttar Pradesh among others.

Stung by stagnant grains output and sluggish farm sector growth, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Tuesday called for higher production of agricultural products to help check inflation and lift the economy's growth rate.

Farm Minister Sharad Pawar on Tuesday forecast India would need about 25 million tonnes additional foodgrains by 2011/12.

Wheat, rice, and pulses production must rise, he said.

The farm ministry said in April output of all grains, including rice and pulses, would rise to 211.78 million tonnes in 2006/07 from 208.6 million tonnes the year before.

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