Ludhiana, April 12:
Reiterating firm commitment of the state government to save the groundwater of the state for coming generations, the Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Singh Mann on Saturday announced to start zone wise cultivation of the paddy from June 1.
“We have divided the state into three zones and the cultivation of paddy will start in the district falling in three zones On June 1, June 5 and June 9”, said the Chief Minister while addressing the gathering during Sarkar Kisaan Milni here today.
The Chief Minister said that Punjab is the food bowl of the country as it contributes 45% of grains in the national food pool. However, he bemoaned that in 70 days of paddy season Punjab pumps out water equal to nine Gobind Sagar lakes, which is a huge quantity. Bhagwant Singh Mann said that by pumping out so much water we will deprive our coming generations from water which is the basic ingredient of our existence.
Citing an example, the Chief Minister said that 4000 litre of water is required for producing one kilo paddy so it is posing a serious threat to the basic existence of our coming generations, due to which the state government is making concerted efforts to save it. He said that cultivation of paddy in the state has increased from 20 lakh hectares to 32 lakh hectares due to which the need for water to irrigate the fields has also increased. Bhagwant Singh Mann said that due to strenuous efforts of the state government the ground water level has started increasing and as per a report of the Union government it has witnessed an upward enhancement of one metre.
In a path breaking initiative, the Chief Minister said that the state government has decided to start cultivation of paddy from June 1 for which the state has been divided into three zones. He said that paddy cultivation in Faridkot, Bathinda, Fazilka, Ferozepur and Sri Muktsar Sahib Districts will start from June 1 adding that in Gurdaspur, Pathankot, Amritsar, Tarn Tarn, Rupnagar, SAS Nagar (Mohali), Sri Fatehgarh Sahib and Hoshiarpur districts will start on June 5. Bhagwant Singh Mann said that in the remaining districts of Ludhiana, Moga, Jalandhar, Mansa, Malerkotla, Sangrur, Patiala, Barnala, Shaheed Bhagat Singh Nagar and Kapurthala it will start on June 9.
The Chief Minister said that it will help in reducing the immediate burden for supply of power in all the districts of the state during the paddy season. He said that it will avoid complications to the farmers in selling their paddy harvest due to high moisture content in October. Bhagwant Singh Mann said that this zone wise cultivation of the paddy crop will be ensured in the state and necessary planning and arrangements are already being made by the Punjab government for this motive.
The Chief Minister said that the state government is contemplating to ban the cultivation of water guzzling Pussa 44 variety of the paddy. He said that the cultivation of this variety needs around 152 days and it requires 64 lakh litre water per acre and costs Rs 7500 per acre to the government for power. Likewise, Bhagwant Singh Mann the farmers have to bear expenditure worth nearly Rs 19000 per acre for cultivation of this variety and it produces paddy straw 10% more than other varieties.
The Chief Minister said that the state government will ensure a minimum eight hours of regular power supply to the farmers during the paddy season. He said that in the areas where canal water supply is available the power will be supplied during the night time for eight hours. Bhagwant Singh Mann further said that the previous governments never bothered about making any effort to save the groundwater and the farmers at the tail ends, on this land of five rivers, never got water.
However, the Chief Minister said after assuming charge his government has revived 15947 water courses in the state due to which water has reached at the tail ends even in remotest villages. Bhagwant Singh Mann said that at the time when he had assumed the charge of office only 21% canal water was being used in the state for irrigation purposes. However, he said that it is a matter of great pride and satisfaction that today 75% of the canal water is being used for irrigation purposes.
The Chief Minister said that canal water is a boon for irrigation as this mineral rich water enhances fertility of soil on one hand and reduces pressure on groundwater on the other. He said that it also reduces the burden on the power sector thereby enabling the state government to provide uninterrupted power to every sector. Bhagwant Singh Mann further said that the state government is making strenuous efforts for providing adequate marketing and MSP on alternate crops like Maize to bring farmers out of the rut of wheat/ paddy circle.
The Chief Minister unequivocally said that no black of DAP and Urea will be allowed during the season to avoid any inconvenience to the farmers. Reiterating the firm commitment of the state government to make agriculture a profitable venture, Bhagwant Singh Mann said that active participation of farmers is the need of the hour to bail them out from the ongoing agrarian crisis. He said that due to ever escalating input costs and diminishing returns agriculture is no longer a profitable venture.
The Chief Minister said that due to this the farmers of the state are on cross roads. He said that the sole motive of organizing this interaction is to reduce the gap between decision makers and stakeholders so that policies are designed as per the needs of the farmers. Bhagwant Singh Mann said that Punjab produces 80% of the total Basmati produced in the country adding that this production will be further enhanced in the coming days.
The Chief Minister said that this will further give fillip to the Basmati industry on one hand and supplement the income of farmers besides saving the precious natural resource in the form of water. Bhagwant Singh Mann gave a clarion call to the farmers to adopt Basmati cultivation across the state adding he assured the farmers that the state government will make every effort to ensure that they do not suffer any sort of loss in cultivation of Basmati. He also said that every effort will be made to ensure that assured prices are made available on Basmati cultivation.
