Karnal farmers await incentive for not growing paddy

Parveen Arora

Karnal, July 23

Nearly 1,200 farmers in the district are waiting for around Rs 1.7 crore as incentives promised under the Agriculture Department’s ‘mera pani,meri virasat’ scheme. This scheme offers Rs 7,000 per acre to farmers who choose to diversify their crops instead of cultivating paddy.

The scheme was introduced to reduce the cultivation of water-intensive paddy, which is known for depleting groundwater resources. As per government data, there was a target of covering nearly 5,300 acres of land in the district, but only about 2,540 acres were covered during the last paddy season.

Farmers have been running from pillar to post to receive their incentives and allege that despite the promise of financial support, they have yet to receive the funds. The delay in disbursing the incentives has brewed resentment in the farming community.

Joginder Singh, a farmer from Mubarkabad village, who runs a Farmers’ Producer Organisation (FPO) comprising over 200 farmers, said that last year almost all the farmers in his FPO cultivated vegetables, maize, and other crops instead of paddy. They have yet to receive the promised incentives for crop diversification.

The farmers are demanding the government release their incentives as soon as possible so that they could benefit from the scheme. “I cultivated vegetables and maize on eight acres of land but have not received the incentive. My request to the government is to release the incentives,” said Krishan Kumar, another farmer.

Farmers Kuldeep Singh, Harpeet Singh, Pardeep Kumar, and others have similar stories to narrate. They allege that the delay in disbursement has discouraged them from participating in the scheme this year. “This season, we have also been asked by the authorities to promote crop diversification, but under these circumstances, we cannot opt for this scheme,” said Joginder Singh.

The Agriculture Department admitted to the delay in disbursing incentives. “The incentives are released by the headquarters of the department. We have sent a request for the release of the funds,” said Dr Wazir Singh, Deputy Director of Agriculture (DDA).