Mandi Ahmedgarh, May 27
The district administration is leaving no stone unturned to motivate paddy growers to adopt direct seeding of rice technique.
However, the desired target of bringing 12 lakh hectares of land under DSR (direct seeding of rice) seems to be a distant dream, as farmers doubt the claims being made by the Agriculture and Farmer Welfare Department about the yield in cost of inputs.
Acknowledging efforts being made by the administration and AAP legislators for spreading awareness about the issue, farmers of the region have urged the Chief Minister Punjab Bhagwant Singh Mann to get MSP and assured procurement of basmati and maize for prompting more farmers to replace transplantation of paddy with direct seeding.
Aam Aadmi Party legislators Jaswant Singh Gajjanmajra, Manvinder Singh Giaspura, Jiwan Singh Sangowal, Sarabjit Kaur Manuke and Hakam Singh Thekedar had been trying their best to spread awareness about need of replacement of paddy transplantation with direct seeding of rice for conversation of water.
Farmers were told about entitlement for additional payment of Rs 1,500 per acre from the state government in case they opt for the DSR.
Malerkotla DC Sanyam Aggarwal and Ludhiana DC Surbhi Malik had been organising special camps, workshops and in situ training sessions for clearing doubts of paddy cultivators.
Trainees highlighted various aspects of cropping pattern and challenges associated with DSR method. Pest management, rodent management and weeding were among other issues discussed during various sessions.
Farmers led by Baldev Singh Latala of All India Kissan Sabha said some farmers of the region had earlier suffered losses due to replacement of traditional method of paddy cultivation with DSR. “In case the government is serious about solving the water table depletion issue, it should announce assured procurement of basmati after announcing the MSP and should also ensure that maize is purchased at MSP,” said Latala.
