Swinging into action, the agriculture department in the last two days has destroyed paddy in several villages of the district for transplanting the crop ahead of the schedule issued by the state government.
As per the Punjab Preservation of Subsoil Waters Act, 2009, transplanting paddy is prohibited before June 15. The step was taken by the state government to check the depleting water table as paddy sown before June 15 puts stress on groundwater.
Confirming surprise checks by the department, chief agriculture officer (CAO) Balwinder Singh Chhina on Thursday said by and large farmers abide by the instructions of the government and do not transplant paddy before June 15.
There were a few cases wherein farmers had decided to defy the act and went in for transplantation, he added.
There were a couple of cases in the Majitha agricultural block that came to the notice of agriculture officials and they immediately asked the farmers to destroy the crop. Similarly, there were two cases in the Attari block and one in the Jandiala block where action was taken.
“The farmers who had their paddy destroyed did not suffer heavy losses as we took action just as they had begun sowing. The total area from where paddy was uprooted in the district is around 9-10 acres,” Chhina further said.
In the Attari block, the agriculture department had to seek the help of the police after a farmer refused to uproot the transplanted crop and threatened the officials as well. But when the police arrived,the farmer himself destroyed the crop.
The chief agriculture officer said that paddy sown in early June is totally dependent on groundwater for irrigation in the absence of rain during this period.
The Punjab State Power Corporation Limited (PSPCL)’s decision to start eight-hour power supply for the paddy season from June 10 onwards also caused confusion.
Farmers were led to believe that the PSPCL order came as the government had allowed transplantation from June 10 onwards. Last year, the government had allowed transplantation from June 10 due to rain in early-June.
Direct sowing on
There is no restriction on the direct sowing of rice (DSR) technique. For the last two years, the government has been trying to popularise this method among farmers as it is a cost-effective and water-saving technique.
The DSR does not involve puddling of the field in which the paddy saplings are transplanted. It is in fact dry sowing of paddy in the same way as wheat is sown. A seed drill is used for sowing the paddy and thereafter water is applied.
This is cost effective as it involves no manual labour, hence cutting down the input cost by `2,500-3,000 per acre.
Agriculture development officer (ADO) Gurdip Singh said, “About 995 acres have been covered under the DSR in the district so far. During the last paddy season, just 550 acres were covered under DSR in the district. This method is gradually becoming popular as it mainly cuts down the input cost.”
Crop destroyed in five Gurdaspur villages
The district agriculture department made farmers of five villages destroy transplanted paddy sown before the sowing schedule released by the state government.
District chief agriculture officer Lakhwinder Singh Hundal said the destroyed paddy nursery belonged to Kartar Singh of Kotla Manjh Singh, Joginder Singh of Mansoorke, Baldev Singh of Tughalwal, Sukhdev Singh of Shishra and Surinder Singh of Fero Chechi villages.
He said the department in the district had widely publicised that transplanting of seedlings of paddy nursery would begin on June 15, but these farmers had undertaken sowing before time, thus violating the government orders.
On the other hand, the affected farmers expressed ignorance about the date fixed by the government for sowing of paddy.
Interestingly, the Punjab State Power Corporation Ltd (PSPCL) started releasing eight-hour power supply to the farm sector in the district from June 10.
As why power supply was released to the farm sector five days ahead of the schedule for sowing of paddy, superintending engineer (Gurdaspur circle) Jasbir Singh said it was related to the government’s policy matter.
Majority of these farmers destroyed their sown crop in the presence of a team led by the chief agriculture officer by re-ploughing the fields using a tractor while one of them sprayed weed killer to destroy his crop sown in half acre of his field at Shishra village.
The farmers who destroyed their paddy nursery on nine acres of land in these villages had to incur a loss of Rs 4.000 to Rs 5,000 per acre.
Source - http://www.hindustantimes.com/
