Banned paddy varieties find their way into Punjab from Haryana

Banned varieties of paddy are being sold openly on social media platforms, raising concerns about the enforcement of regulations to check their transplantation to arrest the decline in state’s water table.

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According to officials, water-guzzling varieties like PUSA-44 are being sold by farmers of Haryana through social media platforms and are being “smuggled into Punjab” from the neighbouring state.

Jaskaran Singh, a farmer from Nabha, said cultivators were bringing these saplings from villages across the state border and planting these in districts like Patiala, Sangrur, Barnala, Ludhiana, Mansa and Moga.

Despite the ban imposed by the state government, PUSA-44 continues to be cultivated on nearly 15 per cent of the state’s total area under paddy, say agricultural experts.

Known for its high yield, but excessive water consumption, the variety takes approximately 160 days to mature. Its cultivation during peak summer months significantly increases water consumption by as much as 40 per cent due to high evaporation rate.

However, Patiala Chief Agriculture Officer Jaswinder Singh maintained that the situation was under control.

“We have largely managed to plug the supply of hybrid seeds. PUSA-44 has been sown only in a very small area as some farmers could have been in possession of old seeds. The sowing window for long-duration varieties is almost closed now as these are typically planted by the second week of June,” he said.

Meanwhile, officials in the Agriculture Department admitted that the state’s recent move to advance the paddy sowing window had unintended consequences.

The policy, aimed at ensuring early harvesting by mid-September, is being feared to have inadvertently triggered a surge in the demand for long-duration varieties like PUSA-44.

“This strategy appears to have backfired as many farmers reverted to long-duration varieties, defeating the water-saving objective,” said a senior department official.

Agricultural experts, including former Punjab Agricultural University Vice-Chancellors SS Johl, BS Dhillon and KS Aulakh, had earlier expressed reservations over the advancement of sowing dates, warning it might encourage farmers to opt for water-intensive varieties.

According to the Department of Agriculture, as of June 24, paddy had been sown on 15.24 lakh hectares in Punjab. This is more than double the area (7.47 lakh hectares) on which paddy had been sown during the same period last year.

In response to this, Director (Agriculture) Jaswant Singh convened a special meeting with field officers in Chandigarh. He instructed them to submit district-wise reports identifying areas where long-duration paddy varieties are suspected to have been sown.

The water-intensive nature of these crops continues to strain Punjab’s depleting water table. As per data from the Commission for Agricultural Costs and Prices (CACP), it takes a staggering 3,367 litres of water to produce just one kilogram of rice — a figure that has alarmed environmentalists and policymakers alike.

Sale via social media platforms

Water-guzzling varieties like PUSA-44 are being sold by farmers of Haryana through social media platforms

Despite a ban imposed by the Punjab Govt, PUSA-44 continues to be cultivated on nearly 15% of state’s total area under paddy

Known for its high yield, but excessive water consumption, it takes around 160 days to mature