After ban on hybrid paddy seeds, farmers go to Hry, HP to buy these

The Punjab Government has imposed a ban on the sale of hybrid paddy seeds due to lower rice recovery and poor milling recovery, but famers who are still adamant on growing hybrid paddy are making a beeline to neighbouring states like Haryana and Himachal to buy the seeds of hybrid varieties.

Since the paddy sowing season is underway, the Agriculture Department is keeping a check on the sale of hybrid seeds and conducting regular checking on the seed stores.

During the 2024-25 kharif marketing season, rice millers across Punjab refused to accept hybrid rice varieties due to poor milling recovery.

Chief Agriculture Officer Gurdeep Singh said that they were keeping a strict vigil and conducting inspections on the shops to ensure that nobody was selling hybrid varieties, which have been banned by the state government. Recently Joint Director, Agriculture, also visited Jagraon for conducting the checking. No shop in the district was found violating the ban, he said.

Meanwhile, farmers who want to sow the hybrid variety are travelling to Haryana to buy the seeds. “The government is seeing poor milling and breakage, but hybrid varieties offer water efficiency and higher farmer income. I have bought 20 kg of seeds of two hybrids — Sava 7301 and Sava 7501 — from Haryana, and these will suffice as per my requirement. I might have to make another trip to Haryana and get the seeds for my remaining land. The dealers there of course are charging higher price,” said a farmer from Jodhan village.

Another farmer from Raikot Balbir Singh has procured hybrid seeds through a relative, who has sourced it from dealers from Haryana and Himachal Pradesh. “The state government should not have imposed ban when these hybrids are being planted by other states. The hybrid varieties yield so much in so little time and also save water and still the government has imposed a ban on them,” says Balbir Singh.

The state government cannot impose a ban on these as the hybrids ones have been notified by the Centre after their evaluation by the Indian Council of Agricultural Research for yield advantage, milling recovery and adaptability to different agro-climatic regions/states, he added.

Farmers assert that the hybrid paddy was essential in regions with saline groundwater, such as parts of Muktsar, Fazilka, Mansa and Bathinda, where traditional varieties struggle to grow.

Ludhiana