Punjab to make law to stop early paddy sowing

Expressing concern over the steep decline of groundwater in Punjab due to the high rate of paddy cultivation in the state, the Punjab government will soon pass an Ordinance to curb the early sowing of large water-consuming paddy with the provision of destroying the sowed crop along with imposition of penalty.

"The groundwater level has witnessed a steep decline in Punjab and to save the state from becoming a desert, it has been decided to pass an ordnance to curb the usual practice of early sowing of paddy.

A draft of the ordinance has already been signed by me to be presented in the cabinet for its approval before tabling it on the foour of the Assembly," Sucha Singh Langah, Punjab agriculture minister, told reporters here today.

According to the proposed law, if farmers sow the paddy before June 15, the crop could be destroyed and the farmers would be liable for a penalty of Rs 10,000 per acre, he added.

He said that special training camps were being organised in the state to educate farmers about the latest technique of cultivation as well as making them aware of the adverse result of early sowing of paddy.

If the pace of declining of the ground water continues, no water would be available after 10 years for irrigation resulting in the conversion of Punjab into a state like Rajasthan, the agriculture minister warned.

Regarding the diversification efforts of the government, Langah said that farmers were being encouraged to cultivate basmati in the state, which has great potential in domestic as well as the international market.

On a specific query on whether the state government was discouraging the farmers from sowing wheat, the minister evaded a direct reply and switched over to another issue and said the government was promoting drip system of irrigation, for which a subsidy of 75 per cent was being extended to the farmers.

He said that facilities of cold storage were being strengthened to help market the crop of vegetable and fruit in the state and in the years to come, Rs 1,700 crore would be spent to provide modern facilities including cold storage in every mandi of the state.

Asked whether the government wanted to continue its stake in the Jallowal Kinnow Nursery with the private participation of PepsiCo, the minister said that so far no decision regarding the withdrawal of the stake was taken and it was decided to establish more nurseries in the area to provide stiff competition.

Responding to the query that whether Yoga Guru Baba Ramdev has also offered to take Jallowal Nursery for cultivating harbal trees, Minister ruled out that any such offer came to the Government and said if Baba Ramdev was interested, he should have submitted a formal proposal for the same.