Punjab witnesses 53% reduction in farm fires this year
Punjab witnessed a 53 per cent drop in the number of farm fires this year, said Agriculture and Farmers’ Welfare Minister Gurmeet Singh Khudian in a press release issued here on Wednesday.
The state recorded 5,114 cases this year against 10,909 in 2024. The biggest factor was the handing over of at least 1.58 lakh subsidised crop residue management machines to farmers since 2018 of which more than 16,000 were sanctioned this year.
Khudian said the government increased the state advised price (SAP) for sugarcane by Rs 15, making it the highest in the country at Rs 416 per quintal. In a big boost to crop diversification, the area under cotton expanded by 20 per cent to 1.19 lakh hectares. A 33 per cent subsidy on PAU-recommended BT cotton seeds witnessed online enrolment by 52,000 farmers.
In the government push for water-saving direct seeding of rice (DSR) technology, the area under the DSR expanded from 2.53 lakh acres in 2024 to 2.96 lakh acres this year. The area under basmati rice cultivation witnessed a modest increase, rising to 6.90 lakh hectares this year from 6.81 lakh hectares.
A targeted pilot project launched in six districts — Bathinda, Sangrur, Gurdaspur, Jalandhar, Kapurthala and Pathankot — has yielded positive results as over 11,000 acres have been switched from paddy to maize, supported by an incentive of Rs 17,500 per hectare.
