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The official date for starting paddy transplantation in Malwa region is June 17, but farmers have already started it. They say that if we wait, there will be a problem in the preparation of the crop and we will have to bear the loss.
Punjab government has announced paddy for two zonesPaddy) has fixed different dates for starting planting. However, farmers have started cultivating paddy without waiting for the official date to start transplanting. Earlier the state government had divided Punjab into 4 zones and announced different dates for starting paddy transplantation for all the zones. But the farmers (FarmersIn view of the opposition of ) the decision was modified and instead of 4, it was changed to two zones. Also, keeping in mind the demand of the farmers, the date announced earlier was shifted earlier. Despite this, farmers have already started planting paddy. On this, the Agriculture Department has given a strong reaction and said that we will take action against the farmers who do this.
The official date for starting paddy transplantation in Malwa region was June 17. But in many areas it is seen that farmers have already started cultivation of paddy. At present Punjab State Power Corporation Limited is not providing electricity to the farmers for farming. In such a situation, farmers are giving water to the fields from tubewells using diesel. Bharatiya Kisan Union (Ekta Ugrahan) leader Shingra Singh Mann told The Tribune that farmers are transplanting paddy varieties of longer duration. If they wait till June 17, the crop will take time to mature and they will suffer.
Decision has been taken due to falling ground water level
He demanded from the government to release water in canals so that the cost of farmers would come down. He also said that the groundwater level will not be affected by this. At present, farmers are filling water in the fields for planting paddy by running tube wells. This is affecting the groundwater level. Adequate water is required in the fields for transplanting paddy. It is not raining yet. In such a situation, farmers have to resort to tube wells.
The state government had ordered that farmers will not plant paddy in the Malwa region before June 17. Earlier, transplanting of paddy used to start from June 1 in the state. But for the last few years, the government has been ordering farmers to start transplanting late. This decision has been taken in view of the depleting groundwater level. Along with this, the burden of subsidy will also be reduced and the quality of Basmati will improve.
Agriculture Department said – will take strict action
The Punjab Agriculture Department has given a strong reaction to the start of paddy transplantation before the due date. Chief Agriculture Officer of Mansa district Manjit Singh said that I have started a campaign to take action against the farmers who transplanted paddy before time. Paddy will be uprooted from the fields of farmers transplanting before June 17.
The consumption of electricity and water increases significantly during paddy transplantation in Kharif season. It affects the ground water level. Planting of paddy in Punjab requires more water as compared to the states which have rain-fed paddy. When farmers start planting paddy once, then the demand for electricity increases very much, because here farmers plant paddy by running tube wells. During this time there is a big drop in the groundwater level. Keeping this in mind, the state government has fixed a zone based date.
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