Despite incentive, DSR method a damp squib among cultivators

Amritsar, June 30

Even as the state government has set mammoth targets and announced financial assistance to farmers for adopting the direct seeding of rice (DSR) technique, less than one per cent of the total land area in the border districts of Tarn Taran and Amritsar has been cultivated under the technique so far.

This when the government has been offering a financial assistance of Rs 1,500 per acre for sowing paddy using the DSR technique for the last two years. The technique has been used on only 2,000 hectares of 3.62 lakh hectares of land under paddy cultivation in Tarn Taran and Amritsar districts.

Of the 2,000 hectares under DSR cultivation, 1,200 hectares have been sown in Amritsar district and 800 hectares in Tarn Taran district. Even as the area under the DSR in Amritsar district has decreased this year as compared to the last season, agricultural officials are hopeful that it would increase in the days to come.

The DSR has been touted as a less-labour intensive and water conserving technique by agricultural experts.

Satveer Singh, a farmer said: “Many farmers who had sown paddy using the DSR technique last year are reluctant this time as they had to face the problem of excessive growth of weeds which had to be manually removed. This increased the labour cost.”

Satveer added that that the uncertainty of weather conditions is another factor coming in the way of the adoption of the technique.

Agricultural experts explain that it should not rain for at least three weeks after paddy has been sown using the DSR technique. “Even mild showers in this period can result in the germination of weeds,” an official said.

Chief Agricultural Officer Jatinder Singh Gill said: “DSR is a bit more technical than the traditional transplantation method. At the same time, it is not very hard to switch to, and many farmers are successfully using it.”

Gill added that the fields sown with DSR require much care during the first three weeks. He said farmers in the vegetable belts are more likely to adopt new techniques.

The worries of farmers

Satveer Singh, a farmer said: “Many farmers who had sown paddy using the DSR technique last year are reluctant this time as they had to face the problem of excessive growth of weeds which had to be manually removed. This increased the labour cost.” Satveer added that that the uncertainty of weather conditions is another factor coming in the way of the adoption of the technique.