Only 1,400 Punjab farmers adopt DSR technique this season

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 of rice on around 15,000 acres so far.

The sowing of paddy using the DSR technique started on May 15. The government aim is to ensure that the technique is used for paddy sowing on at least 5 lakh acres this year, against 2.53 lakh acres last year. Ten days after the direct sowing began, very few farmers have opted for it.

Though Agriculture Department officials insist that the number of people going in for DSR will increase substantially by the end of this month, it seems an uphill task. This is because many farmers may be wanting to shift to basmati varieties of paddy, in the wake of the state government’s decision to restrict the use of hybrid non-basmati paddy varieties. Though basmati can also be sown directly, farmers like to opt for transplantation.

“With regular eight-hour availability of power to run tubewells for irrigating fields, and labour for transplantation being readily available, farmers prefer to go in for paddy transplantation,” said Gurbakshish Singh, a farmer from Nabha.

Officials in the Agriculture Department agreed that the area under basmati paddy could increase this year as many farmers were showing interest in basmati varieties that yielded high prices last year. 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.

Agriculture Minister Gurmeet Singh Khudian said as time for transplantation nears, many more farmers will opt for DSR. “We are sure of meeting our target to get 5 lakh acres under paddy sown using DSR technique,” he said. The farmers who opted for DSR last year did not face any shortfall in yield, he added.

Direct Seeding of Rice

Direct Seeding of Rice (DSR) is a method of paddy cultivation, where paddy seeds are directly sown in the field

The method helps in saving water as compared to the traditional method of transplanting seedlings in the field

It also helps reduce labour cost by eliminating the need for workers to prepare nurseries and transplanting

Punjab