Centre to provide subsidy on Punjab Agriculture University smart seeder

Tribune News Service

Moga, October 5

The Smart Seeder, developed by Punjab Agriculture University (PAU), Ludhiana, has been included in the centrally sponsored subsidy scheme by the Union Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare.

The Research Evaluation Committee of the PAU has recommended its smart seeder for directly sowing wheat into paddy residues. The smart seeder manages the paddy residue by incorporation and surface mulching and thus, smartly retains the benefits of both happy seeder and super seeder in a single machine.

Wheat sown in combine harvested paddy field using the PAU smart seeder grows earlier than happy seeder and super seeder. It can be operated with a 45 to 50 horsepower tractor and sow wheat in 10 to 12 acres in a day.

The PAU seeder places wheat seeds in a well-tilled narrow band of soil and covers the seed rows with soil, using furrow closing rollers. The machine gives proper space for the seeds to germinate on time and grow in healthy soil conditions.

During the 2021-22 wheat sowing season, it was successfully demonstrated on 580 acres for sowing wheat into paddy residues at farmers’ fields in different districts of Punjab and Haryana, in collaboration with the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) and M/s Corteva Agriscience, Hyderabad.

The Punjab Agriculture University has already signed a Memorandum of Agreement with at least 10 agricultural machinery manufacturers, including a Ferozepur-based firm, for the commercialisation of its smart seeder.

The Punjab Department of Agriculture will call applications from the farmers for disbursing subsidy on the PAU smart seeder. The subsidy to be sponsored by the union government will give an additional option to the stakeholders to curtail the practice of burning paddy residue and protect environment in the region.

Dr Jaswinder Singh Brar, plant protection officer, Moga, said wheat sown with the smart seeder grows healthy and gives good yield as compared to the fields sown after burning the paddy straw. “Farmers must shun the practice of burning the paddy residue and sow the wheat directly with smart seeder,” he said.

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