Sangrur tops state in use of happy seeder machines

Sushil Goyal

Tribune News Service

Sangrur, March 14

Sangrur district has topped Punjab in sowing wheat during the current rabi season with happy seeder machines. About 700 such machines were reportedly used in the state this rabi season to sow wheat without burning paddy straw, of which 261 were put to use in Sangrur district for wheat sown on about 6,200 acres.

Chief agriculture officer, Sangrur, Jagtar Singh Brar stated that 229 happy seeder machines had been purchased last year by farmers and cooperative agriculture societies in the district.

The government provided subsidy of Rs 48,000 per happy seeder machine, whose cost is about Rs 1.3 lakh, Brar added.

As per information gathered by The Tribune, Sangrur is the only district to have more than 100 happy seeder machines. Among the other districts, 48 machines were used in Ludhiana to sow wheat on 880 acres, followed by Amritsar (40 machines, 1,200 acres).

An agriculture officer said there were several benefits of sowing wheat with happy seeder machines without burning paddy straw, including saving of about Rs 2,000 worth of diesel per acre, checking of weed growth, and improvement in soil texture that ultimately affected its water-holding capacity.