Paddy sowing: Water level down, Punjab govt ups DSR drive

Tribune News Service

Aman Sood

Patiala, May 16

Despite facing hurdles in promoting direct seeding of rice (DSR) technique, the state government has short-listed 16 blocks in 16 districts where groundwater level has dropped from 21.3 to 1.5 metres since 1998.

As a pilot project, paddy will be sown by the DSR method on 1.5 lakh acres in the short-listed blocks this year.

Experts said soil sampling and plummeting groundwater table in various districts were taken into consideration.

On May 15, Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann had announced Rs 1,500 per acre incentive for the farmers opting for the DSR technique, which saves groundwater, as opposed to the traditional water-intensive method.

Gurwinder Singh, Director, Agriculture Department, said, “We are promoting short and medium-duration paddy advised by the Punjab Agricultural University and our own experts. The idea is to get maximum yield by using less water.”

Farmers who opted for the DSR technique earlier complained that the power utility supplied eight hours of uninterrupted electricity in June (when conventional paddy is sown).

Jaskaran Sandhu of Raungla village said, “Officials have assured us that the power supply will not be an issue for the farmers opting for the DSR technique.”

Farmers rued that weedicides had to be sprayed two-three times and extra labour had to be roped in. “Our field experts will help the farmers to control weeds and also ensure that the entire process is cost-effective,” said Gurwinder.

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