Follow Us
kanksha N Bhardwaj
Tribune News Service
Jalandhar, June 26
The depleting groundwater is making farmers wary of sowing water-guzzling paddy. Given the scarcity of water and delayed monsoon, they say sowing paddy is a loss-making proposition. And sweltering heat is making the matters worse; crop has been damaged in some parts of Doaba.
The draft dynamic groundwater assessment report released recently stated that groundwater in 85 per cent of areas in the state had plummeted.
Farmers say a 12-HP motor pumps out water just sufficient for four to five acres. Those owning more than need more motors, which means spending more money. This is difficuly for the farming community, considering that farmers are caught in the vicious cycle of debt.
Satnam Singh Sahni, a farmer from Kapurthala district, said he had sown paddy over 10 acres, out of which 4 acres were damaged because of excessive heat.
“The fields have dried up. With every passing day, it is becoming difficult to keep the fields irrigated. If the Centre fixes the minimum support price (MSP) for basmati and maize, farmers will benefit from it,” he said.
Bharatiya Kisan Union (Kadian) president Jasbir Singh, who has sown paddy over 25 acres, said the process of sowing of paddy had slowed down because of depleting groundwater.
“When fields dry up, the crop gets badly affected. That’s why I have sown paddy in 50 per cent of my landholding,” he said, adding frequent power cuts was another problem.
“Farmers get electricity for five to six hours out of promised eight hours. To make up for that, generators are the only option, but a majority of the farmers cannot afford the equipment,” he added.
Davinder Singh from Nawanshahr said deficient rain had delayed the sowing of paddy in most of the areas.
Naresh Gulati, agricultural officer, Jalandhar, said: “The fields have dried up because of excessive heat and no rain. Due to groundwater depletion at an alarming rate, the Agriculture Department advises farmers to switch to basmati or maize.”
1