Punjab farmers left high and dry

Punjab paddy cultivators are in a state of panic. The forecast of a poor rain and heavy power cuts have turned them gloomy.

Normally by June-end, 60-70 per cent of paddy is sown in the state. This year, however, just 10-15 per cent of sowing has taken place so far, making the state government jittery.

Punjab supplies around 165 lakh metric tonnes of paddy to the Food Corporation of India every year and the state government is worried it may not able to meet the target this time.

In the absence of rain, the decision to drastically cut down the flow of water from the Bhakra dam for irrigation has compounded problems. The water level in the dam has touched an alarmingly low level, resulting in heavy power cuts. As against nine to ten hours, farmers are receiving five to six hours of power supply a day, which does not meet their requirement.

“This would force farmers to exploit underground water, which would cause serious problems in future,” RS Dhaliwal, an expert from the Punjab Agriculture University, said.

“As paddy requires high quantity of water and with no canal water, rain or power to run tube wells, farmers are in deep trouble,” he said.

Punjab’s agriculture director BS Sidhu said food grain production, especially paddy, could be hit this year if the monsoon was delayed further and the heat wave continued.
He said the total area under paddy cultivation in Punjab this year was expected to be around 26.50 lakh hectares.

Sidhu said the state government’s ambitious plan to introduce mechanised paddy cultivation might not take off in the manner it was expected to. The agriculture department had roped in seven companies to arrange 700 paddy transplanters this season.

Last year, the state had witnessed an acute shortage of farm labour, which exhorted the government to promote mechanised sowing.

Experts feel the sweltering heat could be fatal for the fruit crop.