Punjab witnesses 15% increase in area under DSR technique

Chandigarh, July 4

Even as the ongoing Kharif sowing season has just reached halfway, the efforts made by the Punjab Government to exhort farmers to adopt the direct seeding of rice (DSR) method seems to have got a major boost as there has been a 15 per cent increase in the area covered under the water-saving technique compared to the last year.

The state government has been providing Rs 1,500 financial assistance to encourage farmers to adopt the direct seeding of rice (DSR) technique. The Agriculture and Farmers Welfare Department has set aside Rs 50 crore to provide financial aid to such farmers in 2024-25. — Gurmeet Singh Khudian, Punjab Agriculture and Farmers’ Welfare Minister

Over 17K GIVEN FINANCIAL AID FOR ADOPTING DSR

• Last year, the state government had provided Rs 20.33 crore as financial assistance to 17,116 farmers for adopting the method.
• Minister Khudian said they had been urging farmers to join hands with the government to save the groundwater by adopting the technique.
• The method not only helps in conserving water, but it also reduces labour costs and gives a high yield.

The DSRF method has been used on over 2 lakh acres of area, which was 1.72 lakh acres in the entire Kharif season last year.

Punjab Agriculture and Farmers’ Welfare Minister Gurmeet Singh Khudian, while terming it a great success, hopes to accomplish 5 lakh acres of area under the method this season.

He said the state government had been providing Rs1,500 financial assistance to encourage the farmers to adopt the DSR technique, adding that the Agriculture and Farmers Welfare Department had set aside Rs 50 crore to provide financial aid to such farmers in 2024-25.

Last year, the state government had provided Rs 20.33 crore as financial assistance to 17,116 farmers for adopting the method.

Khudian said they had been urging farmers to join hands with the state government to save the groundwater by opting the technique. He said the farmers who had opted for DSR needed to register on the government portal, agrimachinerypb.com, till July 15 this year to avail the financial assistance.

He said the DSR technique not only helped in conserving water, but also reduced labour costs and gave high-yields.