Sowing change, reaping inspiration in Yamunanagar

Several progressive farmers are becoming a source of inspiration for other growers in Yamunanagar district by growing crops through the natural farming methods, direct seeded rice method and using other innovative farming techniques.

They are not only gaining higher returns but also helping in saving water and environment. Farmers Satwant Singh and Dr Beant Singh, both brothers of Chandpur colony in Yamunanagar have earned fame in the district by growing paddy crop through the direct seeded rice (DSR) method.

They have been growing paddy crop in 50 acres through the DSR method in their fields, located at Bambholi village of the district for the last six years.

“DSR is a good technique for growing paddy crop. It helps in saving water. Food is our necessity, but we also have to save water. If water is saved, humans will also survive,” said Satwant Singh.

He further added, “We started growing paddy through the DSR method in the lockdown of 2020 instead of growing paddy through the old transplantation method due to shortage of labour. Since 2020, we have been using only the DSR method to grow paddy crop.This year, 869 farmers grew paddy in 2,755 acres in Yamunanagar district using the DSR method.

A number of farmers are scripting success stories in farming by using natural farming methods also.

Gian Chand (66), a farmer of Lahar Pur village, falling under the Sadhaura block of the district, has been growing crops and vegetables using the natural farming techniques in his four and a half acres for the last four years. He said he was growing all crops including paddy, sugarcane, maize, turmeric and all vegetables through the natural farming techniques without using chemicals.

“Natural farming is a chemical free technique of farming. Under this method, the farmers use mulching, cow-based formulations and other techniques to grow crops and vegetables. This method of farming helps in reducing cost of production and improve soil health,” said Gian Chand.

Like Gian Chand, a number of farmers, including Bharat Singh of Munda Khera village and Bhushan Shastri of Begampur village are also adopting natural farming methods. According to information, the government is giving Rs 4,000 per acre annually as financial help and a subsidy of Rs 30,000 on purchase of an indigenous cow to promote natural farming in the state.

Farmers, Rahul Baliyan of Bandi village and Rajinder Kumar of Bahadurpur village are among those farmers, who are getting higher yields of sugarcane crop in the region by adopting the new techniques of farming. In the past three years, farmer Rahul Baliyan has achieved an average yield of 1,350 quintals per hectare and farmer Rajinder Kumar has achieved an average yield of 1,280 quintals per hectare.

“Now, the farmers of the area visit our farm to learn about growing techniques. We were recently honoured by the National Sugar Institute, Kanpur for maximising sugarcane production and achieving higher sugarcane yields through the use of latest technologies,” said farmer Rahul.

DP Singh, senior vice-president (administration) of Saraswati Sugar Mills (SSM) said, “Both farmers are progressive farmers of Saraswati Sugar Mills. They have achieved higher yields by adopting the wide row spacing method and all sugarcane-related operations using machines.”

He said a number of other farmers were also setting examples of higher yields in sugarcane crops in the SSM area. Chief executive of Saraswati Sugar Mills SK Sachdeva said honouring the region’s progressive farmers at the national level was a matter of pride for the state and Saraswati Sugar Mills.

Dr Aditya Pratap Dabas, Deputy Director of Agriculture, Yamunanagar, said their department was making efforts to educate farmers about adopting natural farming, DSR method and other new techniques, so that there was an increase in their income without causing harm to the environment. “I congratulate all the successful farmers and urge other farmers to adopt these techniques of farming,” said Dr Aditya Pratap Dabas.