Punjab to give Rs 1,500 per acre to paddy growers who use direct seeding

The Punjab government on Saturday announced financial assistance of Rs 1,500 per acre to each of the farmers sowing paddy through the direct seeding of rice (DSR) technique.

In his announcement, Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann also said the farmers can start sowing paddy through the DSR technique from May 20.

“The Punjab government's big decision is that a farmer who sows paddy through direct seeding will get Rs 1,500 per acre as financial assistance,” said Mann in a video message here.

Under the DSR technique, paddy seeds are drilled into the field with the help of a machine that does seeding of rice and spray of herbicide simultaneously.

According to the traditional method, first young paddy plants are raised by farmers in nurseries and then these plants are uprooted and transplanted in a muddy field.