Punjab farmers should avoid wasteful expenditure: Experts

With farm income dwindling from agriculture sector, farm experts today appealed to Punjab farmers to eschew "wasteful expenditure" and unnecessary "show off" to curb their expenses.
Addressing farmers at 'Kisan Mela' in Gurdaspur, Hardev Singh Riar, Member, Board of Management, Punjab Agricultural University (PAU) said farmers should avoid show off and wasteful expenditure as income from paddy-wheat rotation was dwindling in the wake of shrinking landholding and rising input cost.
Notably, farmers in Punjab are known for spending heavily on social functions including marriages after raising loans from informal sources and thereafter fall into debt trap.
Farm experts also expressed displeasure at farmers buying heavy farm machinery which has use for limited time period and thus forcing them to pay heavy interest on bank loans annually.

Farmers with small land holdings were also advised to adopt other occupations, including dairy farming, honey bee keeping, piggery, etc, in order to supplement their income.
PAU Vice Chancellor B S Dhillon asked farmers to go for judicious use of agro-chemicals as their indiscriminate use has resulted in the rise of farm expenditure and environmental concerns.
Encouraging farmers to go for crop diversification, Dhillon said farmers should grow vegetables and pulses to earn more income. He also called upon farmers to make efficient use of internet for the development of agriculture.
PAU Director Research S S Gosal impressed upon farmers to avoid use of unrecommended crop varieties in order to raise crop yield.