Deprecated (16384): The ArrayAccess methods will be removed in 4.0.0.Use getParam(), getData() and getQuery() instead. - /home/brlfuser/public_html/src/Controller/ArtileDetailController.php, line: 73
 You can disable deprecation warnings by setting `Error.errorLevel` to `E_ALL & ~E_USER_DEPRECATED` in your config/app.php. [CORE/src/Core/functions.php, line 311]
Deprecated (16384): The ArrayAccess methods will be removed in 4.0.0.Use getParam(), getData() and getQuery() instead. - /home/brlfuser/public_html/src/Controller/ArtileDetailController.php, line: 74
 You can disable deprecation warnings by setting `Error.errorLevel` to `E_ALL & ~E_USER_DEPRECATED` in your config/app.php. [CORE/src/Core/functions.php, line 311]
Warning (512): Unable to emit headers. Headers sent in file=/home/brlfuser/public_html/vendor/cakephp/cakephp/src/Error/Debugger.php line=853 [CORE/src/Http/ResponseEmitter.php, line 48]
Warning (2): Cannot modify header information - headers already sent by (output started at /home/brlfuser/public_html/vendor/cakephp/cakephp/src/Error/Debugger.php:853) [CORE/src/Http/ResponseEmitter.php, line 148]
Warning (2): Cannot modify header information - headers already sent by (output started at /home/brlfuser/public_html/vendor/cakephp/cakephp/src/Error/Debugger.php:853) [CORE/src/Http/ResponseEmitter.php, line 181]
Notice (8): Undefined variable: urlPrefix [APP/Template/Layout/printlayout.ctp, line 8]latest-news-updates/shift-rice-production-from-punjab-to-eastern-states-experts-sutanuka-ghosal-rituraj-tiwari-17500.html"/> LATEST NEWS UPDATES | Shift rice production from Punjab to eastern states: Experts-Sutanuka Ghosal & Rituraj Tiwari | Im4change.org
Resource centre on India's rural distress
 
 

Shift rice production from Punjab to eastern states: Experts-Sutanuka Ghosal & Rituraj Tiwari
-The Economic Times

With reports of groundwater level going down in Punjab and Haryana, considered the rice bowl of India, scientists and analysts suggest its cultivation be shifted to eastern states which have better water resources.

They say Punjab and Haryana should focus on basmati rice, which is largely exported, and the eastern states should produce non-basmati varieties for meeting the domestic demand.

Talking to ET, Dr Swapan Kumar Dutta, deputy director general (crop science), Indian Council of Agricultural Research, said: "Ideally, farmers from Punjab and Haryana should stop rice cultivation and opt for some other crops. They are using irrigation facilities to grow rice. This activity can easily shift to states like Bihar, West Bengal, Chhattisgarh and other eastern states which are rain-fed and are capable of producing more rice to meet the domestic requirement. The bodo rice cultivation in Bengal is almost similar to that in Punjab." Incidentally, the water table is going down by roughly 33 cm every year in Punjab, the cradle of the green revolution in the seventies.

The UPA government too wants to move the rice bowl from Punjab and Haryana to eastern states. Agriculture minister Sharad Pawar wants to introduce crops such as pulses, oilseeds, fodder crops and horticultural crops in Punjab and Haryana instead of wheat and rice. "We are discussing various aspects relating to the proposed crop substitution including suitability of different alternative crops and their impact of water and soil resources, cost of production, and marketing and processing of alternative crops in these traditionally grain-producing states," he said recently.

Water table is depleting fast in Punjab and Haryana due to the overuse of irrigation. The soil condition is deteriorating due to indiscriminate use of pesticides and fertilisers.

Ashok Gulati, chairman, Commission for Agricultural Costs and Prices, which advises the government on fixing minimum support price of crops, said rice cultivation should immediately shift to eastern states like West Bengal, Bihar and eastern Uttar Pradesh which have good water availability. "Water table is depleting by 33 cm every year in Punjab. Fields of Punjab and Haryana should be used for cultivating oilseeds and pulses. If this happens, we won't be dependent on imports for our needs of edible oil and pulses. In 2011-12, we imported edible oil and pulses worth more than Rs 50,000 crore. This is a huge bill and we are paying it to others," he said.

The government launched a programme named 'Bringing Green Revolution to Eastern India' in 2010-11 in the region to raise agricultural production with an allocation of Rs 400 crore for the first two years. After seeing success, it has now increased the outlay to Rs 1,000 crore for the current financial year.

Dr Mukund Wariar, officer in charge of Central Rain-fed Upland Rice Research Station, said: "At present, the average productivity of rice in eastern India is 2.5 tonne per hectare. It can go up to 3.5 tonne per hectare with the use of better technology. We are working towards it."

According to the agriculture ministry, rice production in Bihar and Jharkhand more than doubled last year over the previous year. "Except for Odisha and Assam, which were affected by weather vagaries, rice production has increased in the states where this programme is being implemented. A record production of 55.3 million tonne of rice has been achieved by the eastern region out of total rice production of 104.32 million tonne during 2011-12," an official said.

Apart from encouraging grain production in eastern states, the government should invest in creating adequate marketing infrastructure. "It should ensure proper procurement of the produce. Marketing network is not that robust in eastern states and food grains are often sold below the minimum support price. The government should ensure better returns for farmers in these states who are not as prosperous as their counterparts in Punjab and Haryana," said Jaishankar Mishra, an agriculture scientist.