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| Area under paddy falls over 2% in Punjab |
| Press Trust of India / Chandigarh Aug 02, 2010, 14:13 IST |
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 Total area under paddy in Punjab has dropped by 2.48 per cent to 27.50 lakh hectares this season in comparison to 28.20 lakh hectares brought under paddy in the last season.
However, in Haryana, the paddy sowing is still going on and 10.57 lakh hectares of land has been brought under the crop so far against the targeted area of 11.50 lakh hectares.
"Paddy sowing in the state (Punjab) is complete and we have recorded 27.50 lakh hectares of land under the crop," a senior official of Punjab Agriculture Department said here today.
Though the area under crop in Punjab was less than the actual area of last year, yet current sowing level was 50,000 hectares more than the targeted area for this kharif season.
Punjab had targeted to bring 27 lakh hectares of land this year against 28.20 lakh hectares brought in last year. Haryana, the neighbouring state is still witnessing paddy sowing by farmers particularly in flood-affected areas of the state.
"So far, 10.57 lakh hectares of land has come under paddy in Haryana against 10.50 lakh hectares in corresponding period of last year," Haryana Agriculture Department's Joint Director Rajinder Solanki said.
Experts said paddy sowing may complete in the state within next 7 to 8 days. Haryana is eyeing an area of 11.50 lakh hectares of land under paddy this season against 12.05 lakh hectares brought last year.
Area under basmati varieties of paddy is expected to remain at last year’s level in both states -- key areas for growing aromatic varieties of crop with PUSA 1121 variety holding major share in crop cultivation.
The area under basmati varieties in Punjab jumped from 3.5 lakh hectares in 2008-09 to 5.5 lakh hectares in 2009-10. Similarly, in Haryana, the area under basmati went up from 5 lakh hectares to 6 lakh hectares in last season.
The month of July this year proved to be devastating time for farmers of both Punjab and Haryana as paddy sown over 4 lakh acres was damaged by flooding in both states.
Punjab reported paddy crop damaged over 1.5 lakh acres in Fatehgarh Sahib, Ludhiana, Patiala, Sangrur, while Haryana found paddy crop destroyed over 2.59 lakh acres in Kaithal, Ambala and Kurukshetra.
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