Bhagwant Mann launches portal for direct seeding of rice

Chandigarh, May 25

Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann on Wednesday launched a Direct Seeding of Rice (DSR) portal to facilitate the farmers to give their consent for the area to be sown with DSR technology at his official residence here.

Mann said it would help compile the data about each and every farmer opting for the DSR technique, besides ensuring a payment of Rs 1,500 per acre to the genuine beneficiaries in a transparent manner after proper verification through the portal.

The Agriculture additional chief secretary said that after proper verification, the incentive amount of Rs1,500 per acre would be directly transferred into the bank accounts of the farmers.

The portal has been developed and designed by Mandi Board in sync with the agriculture department.

Adoption of the DSR technology would ensure at least 15-20 per cent water-saving besides helping in effective water percolation which will ultimately improve the groundwater level.

The technique would cut down the labour cost by nearly Rs 4,000 per acre.

The state government has deployed 3,000 officials of various departments, including agriculture, horticulture, Mandi Board and water and soil conservation to oversee the DSR operations and for imparting proper technical guidance to the farmers as well as for undertaking verification of the area sown under the DSR technology.

Farmers are expected to cultivate paddy, including basmati over an area of 30 lakh hectares (75 lakh acres) during this kharif season.