To conserve water, Haryana Agriculture Department adds poplar, eucalyptus to alternative crops

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Ambala, July 9

To decrease the area under paddy crop in the state, the Agriculture Department has now included basmati paddy within the ambit of ‘Mera Pani Meri Virasat’ scheme and also included poplar and eucalyptus trees in the list of alternative crops for diversification.

So far, only area under non-basmati paddy was covered under the scheme and crops namely cotton, maize, arhar, moong, fodder vegetable and oilseeds were included in the list of alternative crops.

An incentive of Rs 7,000 per acre is given to the farmers who switch to alternative crops under the initiative by the Agriculture Department.

The Director General of Agriculture and Family Welfare Department in a letter issued to all Deputy Directors of Agriculture (DDAs), and Director Generals of Horticulture Department intimated that alternative crops under Mera Pani Meri Virasat’ scheme 2022 will also be registered in the area, which was under basmati paddy last year.

With this fresh development, the last date for registration under the scheme has extended to July 31, while earlier was June 30.

The district-specific targets remain the same. Ambala and Kurukshetra were given a target of 5,041 acres and 3,090 acres, respectively.

The spokesperson of the Ambala unit of the Bhartiya Kisan Union (Charuni), Rajiv Sharma, said: “The objective of the scheme is to save groundwater. At the same time, the government should provide an alternative crop having yield at par with paddy so that there is no financial loss to farmers. The trees will take around four years to mature.”

Kurukshetra DDA Dr Pardeep Meel said: “Earlier, only the area under the non-basmati paddy used to be covered, but now, the department has increased its cover by including the area of basmati crop too. Farmers can take benefit from the scheme by switching to alternative crops.”

He said of the 3,090 acres available with the district, the targeted area for the Agriculture Department was 1,840 acres. Of that, 1,680-acre area had been achieved and the remaining was with the Horticulture Department, he added.

Ambala DDA Dr Girish Nagpal said: “The department has extended the last date for the ‘Mera Pani Meri Virasat’ scheme and the field staff has been directed to make extra efforts to achieve the target.”

Around 3,000-acre area has been achieved and the remaining target would be achieved in the coming days. The staff would be working even on the weekend to achieve the target, he added.