Paddy season begins in state today

With concerns being raised by experts, Punjab faces a litmus test while going in for the paddy season that officially starts today.Despite years of discussions to phase out paddy in Punjab, owing to its impact on groundwater, the paddy crop area is likely to dominate agriculture in the state, with the official paddy season starting tomorrow.Already the Punjab Government’s push for the direct seeding of rice (DSR) has not found much favour with farmers, as only 1,400 farmers have opted for the direct sowing on around 15,000 acres so far. Though basmati can also be sown directly, farmers like to opt for transplantation.

The crop is cultivated on over 33 lakh hectares in the state, of which 73 per cent is irrigated by tubewells. Of the 32.43 lakh hectares under paddy last year, 6.80 lakh hectare area was under basmati paddy. This year, it is expected to go up to 7 lakh hectares.

Since 2014, the transplantation of the water-guzzling crop usually started on June 15, a move aimed at reducing stress on groundwater by factoring in the monsoon season. However, following political compulsions, the date has been advanced many times and is now June 1.

As per recent reports compiled by the Central Government, Punjab is one of the states in the country with highest groundwater extraction. According to official data, every tubewell extracts 30.24 lakh litres of groundwater per week with an average eight hours of power supply.

Meanwhile, farmers say that the expert labourers for paddy are yet to come back, though they are confirming that a majority will be back by June 15, when the paddy sowing season is at its peak.

This paddy season, Punjab has been divided into three zones, each with specific sowing dates aimed at optimising groundwater usage and supporting sustainable farming. Sowing from June 1 will start in Faridkot, Ferozepur, Fazilka, Sri Muktsar Sahib, Bathinda, while from June 5 in Gurdaspur, Pathankot, Amritsar, Tarn Taran, Rupnagar, Mohali, Fatehgarh Sahib, Hoshiarpur and from June 9 in districts Ludhiana, Malerkotla, Mansa, Moga, Barnala, Patiala, Sangrur, Kapurthala, Jalandhar and Nawanshahr.

Power arrangements

With farmers already agitating on various issues, the state government has announced free uninterrupted eight-hour power supply to them. Punjab State Power Corporation Limited (PSPCL) claims that it is geared up to meet the power demand due to the paddy sector increase and is prepared to meet the peak demand when over 14 lakh tubewells pump out groundwater in paddy fields.

Power demand is expected to cross 17,000 mw this season, given the recent trend of high consumption and it all depends on monsoon rains. “We expect that the power demand is likely to rise on or after June 17, but in case of some rain spells in this time frame, the power situation is likely to be comfortable. As paddy needs water, we are committed to ensuring eight hours of power for irrigation,” said a senior PSPCL official.

DAP shortage

Against the requirement of 2 lakh metric tonne (LMT) of diammonium phosphate (DAP) fertiliser for the kharif marketing season (KMS) for both paddy and maize crops, the total fertiliser allocated to the state this season so far is just 47,000 metric tonne (MT). While the state was allocated 16,000 MT in April, another 31,000 MT was allocated by the Centre in May.