‘Crop diversification to tackle water crisis’

Our Correspondent

Raikot, March 19

Fatehgarh Sahib MP Dr Amar Singh Boparai has urged the Union Government to adopt maize and cotton at par with wheat and paddy, which were being procured at assured support prices by central agencies, as a part of agricultural policy of the government.

“Besides preserving environment through diversification of crops, cultivation of these two crops will also prevent depletion of groundwater in Punjab which is on verge of becoming a desert,” said Dr Amar Singh Boparai.

While talking to the Ludhiana Tribune, Dr Boparai said he had taken up the issue in the ensuing parliamentary session and demanded that concrete steps should be taken to rescue farmers of the border state who had been forced to take extreme steps of ending their lives due to alleged defective agricultural policies of the successive governments at the Centre.

“It is high time that we understood the need of diversification of crops to prevent the ecosystem from further degradation and protect interests of farmers as the present agricultural policy has failed to keep the agricultural as remunerative profession,” said Boparai.

He also added that farmers were hesitant to cultivate maize and cotton crops as these were not procured by government agencies at present. Hence, there was a need to make the process farmer friendly.

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