Post water conclave, targeted area under DSR up 25K acres in Haryana

Tribune News Service

Nitish Sharma

Ambala, May 5

Days after a water conclave was held to ensure the sustainable management of resources, the Agriculture Department has revised the targeted area under the direct seeding of rice (DSR) technique for seven of 12 paddy-growing districts in the state.

Earlier, the Agriculture and Farmers Welfare Department had already doubled the target from 1 lakh acres last year to 2 lakh acres this year. However, after the conclave, an additional 25,000 acres has been included in the targeted area for the kharif season-2023.

NO CHANGE IN FIVE DISTRICTS

No change has been made in the targeted area under the DSR technique for five districts — Rohtak (10,000 acres), Hisar (12,000 acres), Panipat (15,000 acres), Fatehabad (25,000 acres) and Sirsa (25,000 acres)

While the target for Rohtak (10,000 acres), Hisar (12,000 acres), Panipat (15,000 acres), Fatehabad (25,000 acres) and Sirsa (25,000 acres) were kept unchanged, the department has increased it for the remaining seven districts. It has given a new target of 13,000 acres each for Ambala and Yamunanagar; 20,000 acres each for Kaithal and Sonepat; 22,000 acres for Kurukshetra; and 25,000 acres each for Karnal and Jind districts.

The department will give an incentive of Rs 4,000 per acre to farmers opting for the DSR technique. The optimum time for the DSR technique to produce the yield is from May 20 to June 15.

Agricultural experts said, “In view of the depleting water table, the department has been making efforts to make farmers adopt the DSR technique instead of traditional method as the former requires lesser water. But the reluctance of farmers to adopt the technique due to the issue of excessive weeds continues to be a major concern before the officials in the targeted districts.”

Om Prakash, a farmer from the Saha block, said “Last year, I adopted the DSR technique but excessive weeds was a major issue. So far, I have no plans to adopt the technique this year.”

Amarjeet Singh Mohri, president, Bhartiya Kisan Union (Shaheed Bhagat Singh), said, “Farmers have suffered losses due to uncertain weather conditions and in such a situation, they don’t want to take more risk by leaving their tried and tested methods.”

Jasvinder Singh, Deputy Director of Agriculture (DDA), Ambala, said, “The DSR technique has started receiving a good response over the years. The government is also providing incentives to the farmers adopting the technique and subsidy on buying the DSR machines. Weather plays are crucial role in the DSR technique and if it remains favourable, we are hopeful that the targets will be achieved.”

Kurukshetra DDA Dr Pardeep Meel, however, said “The revised target has been received for the DSR. Awareness programmes are being run at the village level to educate farmers about the benefits of the DSR technique and efforts are being made to achieve the target.”

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