DSR finds almost no takers this kharif season

Nitin Jain
Tribune News Service
Ludhiana, July 31
As the kharif sowing season is nearing its end, the Department of Agriculture has said over 2.56 lakh hectares of the district’s arable land had been put under paddy with less than 5 per cent growing basmati varieties.
With almost 95 per cent of the total area sown with non-basmati rice varieties so far, the direct seeding of rice (DSR) —in which sowing is done through seeds being planted in the fields and not by using transplanted seedling — had virtually got no takers as less than 0.5 per cent of the area had been cultivated using the technique.
According to the data compiled by the department, a total of 2,56,500 hectares were expected to be put under paddy cultivation in the district of which, 2,56,242 hectares had been sown so far, including 2,42,820 hectares with non-basmati rice, accounting for 94.76 per cent; 12,300 hectares with basmati, accounting for 4.8 per cent, and 1,122 hectares were cultivated using the DSR technique, which accounted for mere a 0.43 per cent of the total area.
Government officials claimed to have had run an extensive awareness drive to motivate farmers to opt for DSR, for which even the Chief Minister had given a clarion call, to save the state’s water and natural resources.
The block-wise paddy sowing figures revealed that Sidhwan Bet block continued to top the district with the maximum of 33,257 hectares put under paddy while Ludhiana block witnessed the minimum paddy acreage at 13,231 hectares.
Sidhwan Bet block had cultivated 32,550 hectares with non-basmati rice and 600 hectares with basmati; 107 hectares were sown using the DSR.

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We will release Rs 1,500 per acre in financial assistance to the farmers who had opted for the DSR. We will continue motivating farmers to shun traditional paddy sowing practices to conserve the state’s limited natural resources. — Gurmeet Singh Khuddian, AGRICULTURE MINISTER

Among other blocks, Ludhiana had cultivated 12,900 hectares with non-basmati rice, 314 hectares with basmati, and 17 hectares with DSR; Mangat 30,200 hectares non-basmati, 486 hectares basmati, 157 hectares DSR; Pakhowal 21,130 hectares non-basmati, 987 hectares basmati, 110 DSR; Sudhar 27,800 hectares non-basmati, 1,050 hectares basmati, 103 hectares DSR; Jagraon 27,400 hectares non-basmati, 3,600 hectares basmati, 200 hectares DSR; Dehlon 19,400 hectares non-basmati, 672 hectares basmati, 40 hectares DSR, and Doraha 18,350 hectares non-basmati, 500 hectares basmati, 36 hectares DSR.
Farmers who used the DSR technique are eligible for financial assistance of Rs 1,500 per acre from the state government.