Defying advisory, Punjab farmers water fields for paddy

Tribune News Service

Aakanksha N Bhardwaj

Jalandhar, May 16

Though paddy sowing is more than a month away, some farmers have already started watering their fields unmindful of wastage of water and electricity. The state government has divided the state into four zones for staggered transplantation of paddy in from June 18 to 24.

The farmers’ action comes even as the government is trying to check groundwater depletion. When asked why he was watering his fields now, a farmer replied that the purpose was to cool the land. At many places, fields can be seen filled with water even when farm experts say it is not required at all.

Farm union activists’ chandigarh dharna from today

• Farmers associated with 16 farm unions will descend on Chandigarh on Tuesday to start a “pucca dharna” in protest against the paddy sowing schedule
• They want paddy transplantation to begin from June 10 and not June 18, besides lowering of fee charged for increasing the power load

Dr Buta Singh Dhillon, Agronomist (Rice), Punjab Agricultural University, said: “Farmers should instead leave the field open as high temperature at this time will help in destroying the pathogens.”

He further said groundwater was going down at a rate of 53 cm per year. “It is not going to give any output to the farmers, so, they should not indulge in such activities,” the agronomist said, adding in another 10-15 days, rain would irrigate the fields.

Chief Agriculture Officer, Jalandhar, Dr Surinder Singh said camps were being organised to tell farmers that about the “wrong practice”. “We have been making them aware that watering the fields unnecessarily at this time is not right”, he said.

BKU (Doaba) president Manjit Singh Rai said the farmers were preparing the land early, but it could definitely be avoided. “I want to appeal to the farmers that we have to save water,” he said.

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