Punjab : Village panchayat offers free maize seeds to curb paddy cultivation, save groundwater
Ransih Kalan village in Punjab’s Moga district has launched a campaign encouraging farmers to shift from water-intensive paddy to kharif maize. The panchayat is offering free maize seeds to promote water conservation. The state government also supports the shift with a ₹7,500/acre incentive. However, farmers face challenges as maize is being sold below the MSP.
Bathinda: In a proactive move towards water conservation, the panchayat of Ransih Kalan village in Moga district has launched a unique initiative to curb the rapidly depleting water table by encouraging farmers to shift from water-intensive paddy to kharif maize.As part of the campaign, the panchayat has announced free distribution of maize seeds to farmers willing to forgo paddy transplantation. Around 8-9 kg of seed is required per acre, costing approximately Rs 3,500-4,000 per acre.Ransih Kalan sarpanch Preetinder Pal Singh said for many years, farmers were into paddy transplantation, which caused the groundwater table to deplete rapidly, turning over 75% of blocks in the state into dark zones. Given the circumstances, it is imperative for farmers to stop paddy transplantation and switch to maize cultivation. To support this shift, the village panchayat has decided to provide free maize seeds to farmers who opt out of growing paddy.Earlier, the village panchayat provided farmers cash incentives for not burning crop residue . The panchayat is working to contain drug addiction in the state and is also working to recycle and reprocess plastics.
The Punjab govt is also promoting kharif maize and has offered Rs 7,500 per acre as a cash incentive to farmers who switch from paddy to kharif maize. Congress MLA and industrialist Rana Gurjit Singh has offered to purchase the entire crop of maize at an MSP of Rs 2,225 per quintal.Kharif maize is sown from the last week of May to late June, and the state govt wants farmers to adopt maize under crop diversification.Spring maize has started reaching the grain markets upon harvesting. The farmers are spreading it in the grain markets to dry it and maintain moisture content within permissible limits. The farmers say they are getting Rs 1,800-2,000 per quintal against an MSP of Rs 2,225 per quintal. The traders cite more moisture content as the reason for offering a price lower than the MSP, while the authorities are not coming forward to procure maize at the MSP.
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Source : The Times Of India
