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Resource centre on India's rural distress
 
 

Government for crop diversification in Punjab to save soil, water-Rituraj Tiwari
-The Economic Times

The government plans to revive cultivation of crops that make Punjab's iconic "makki ki roti andsarson ka saag" -- maize and mustard -- along with horticulture and fodder to breathe life into the stressed soil and the rapidly depleting water table in the green-revolution state.

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh is pushing hard for crop diversification in Punjab and has appointed an inter-ministerial panel on crop diversification led by Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar to help farmers look beyond paddy thatguzzles water, fertiliser and power. Farm experts say eastern India, which has plenty of water and the region chosen for the next wave of thegreen revolution, is a better location for such crops. The government has already allocated Rs 500 crore to start the programme of crop diversification. The panel will also review infrastructure required to market, support and procure alternative crops. It includes ministers of finance, food and commerce and the deputy chairman of the Planning Commission.

Growing alternative crops such as maize, mustard and cotton is expected to reduce water consumption and help revive the watertable in Punjab, which is sinking by 33 cm every year.

"We will motivate farmers to go for alternative crops like maize, mustard and cotton. But for that we need to make them equally remunerative. We are devising market interventions and mechanisms to protect their income levels on diversification," said Agriculture Secretary Ashish Bahuguna.

Thepanel will review policies and measures for the restoration of quality of natural resources like soil and water in the region, said a senior agriculture department official.

Pawar has asked Punjab and Haryana farmers to introduce alternative crops such as pulses, oilseeds,fodder crops and horticultural crops as an alternative to wheat and rice. Officials said the government was assessing the impact of various crops on soil and water in the traditionally grain-producing state.

AshokGulati, chairman, Commission for Agricultural Costs and Prices (CACP), which advises government on fixing minimum support prices for crops, said rice cultivation should immediately shift to eastern states like Bihar and eastern Uttar Pradesh where water is available in plenty. He said the acreage under wheat and paddy should be reduced by 1 million hectare. Paddy is being cultivated on 2.8 million hectare in Punjab now while wheat is grown on 4 million hectare. "Punjab should start growing maize for which it was once known for. While paddy cultivation needs 25 rounds of irrigation, maize requires only 5 rounds, which can conserve groundwater," Gulati said.

He said farmers should be motivated togrow maize by offering them viability gap fund (VGF) of Rs 5,000-8,000 ahectare, which will make it as remunerative as rice. "Paddy needs more water, fertiliser and power. The subsidy outgo of the government is around Rs 12,000 per hectare. Even if government pays the VGF, it will be able to save some subsidy and farmers may get adequately remunerated and motivated," he said.

Meanwhile, Punjab chief minister PrakashSingh Badal has demanded a technology mission for agriculture diversification with an allocation of Rs 5,000 crore. He also demanded aremunerative MSP and an assured marketing system for alternative crops such as maize, soya bean, cotton and sugarcane to give a fillip to the farm diversification programme in the state.

However, farmers arenot ready to go for alternative crops saying that they do not have a proper market. "The minimum support price (MSP) for wheat and paddy is known but before diverting farming towards cash crops, they should prepare a proper market for that. In fact, they should announce the MSP first," said Sudhir Panwar, president, Kisan Jagrati Manch, a farmer body. He said growing cash crops will also add up to the input cost of farmers as Punjab depends heavily on expensive migrant labourers.

"Punjabfarmers have enough equipment for cultivating wheat and paddy. It requires less effort now but horticulture, floriculture, and cultivationof vegetables, oil seeds, pulses require labour, which is scarce and quite costly in this region," he said.