Working on a multi-pronged strategy, Punjab Government has fixed target to bring two lakh hectares of land under direct paddy sowing in the State during the current paddy season. The strategy was aimed at checking depletion of water table in the State coupled with conserving sub-soil water and reducing power requirement during the paddy season.
“The Government has been generating awareness amongst the peasantry of the state to opt for this modern viable technique of paddy sowing and refrain from sowing paddy through traditional methods,” said an official spokesperson of the State Agriculture Department.
Spokesperson said that sensitisation workshops and exhibitions are being conducted in all 145 blocks of the state under the special project.
Punjab has always been a leading state in the country in production of rice. “The state had to pay a heavy cost to produce the rice as water table of the State has been drastically depleted because of the excessive use of sub soil water for the paddy cultivation,” spokesperson pointed.
He said that now the farmers are being educated to sow the paddy directly instead of traditional transplantation of paddy. The paddy seed sowing method could help to reduce the requirement of water and conserve the falling water table in the state, he said.
Spokesperson said that the requirement of power during paddy season for irrigating fields would also reduce as less water will have to be used.