Agriculture Department aims 67K hectares under DSR

Amritsar, May 11

The Agriculture Department has set a target to bring 67,000 hectares of land under direct seeding of rice (DSR) in the district.

Following the government’s announcement for direct paddy sowing, the department had taken steps to implement the scheme in the fields to save water and curtail the input cost of farmers.

Dr Paramjit Singh, Chief Agriculture Officer, said special measures have been taken to educate the farmers after the directive was issued by the government to start direct sowing of paddy from May 20, 2022. He said about 5,000 hectare area was sown with this method last year in the district and this year the target was increased to 67,000 hectares. To motivate the farmers in this regard and to provide technical information at the district level three nodal officers Dr Kulwant Singh, (Mobile number 9417062730), Dr Ashwani Rambani, (mobile number 8872007524) and Dr Amarjit Singh Bal, (mobile number 9815758967), have been appointed.

In this regard, employees of the Agriculture Department have been assigned duties at village and block level. After this verification the state government would transfer the financial assistance at the rate of Rs 1,500 per acre directly to the bank account of the beneficiary farmer.