Diversification push, targets fall aside as 90% farm area still under paddy in Punjab
According to records from the Punjab Agriculture Department (PAU), this year, rice area has been recorded at 31.60 lakh hectares till date, including 5.48 lakh hectares of Basmati and 26.12 lakh hectares under water-intensive paddy (non-Basmati).
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Basmati is more suitable to sow in August than paddy due to its shorter duration (Representational image/File) Despite floods, Punjab has been able to complete Kharif sowing on 35.30 lakh hectares till date, although the re-sowing of paddy, basmati, and other crops is still going on in the state due to the damage caused by floods last month.
However, this year too, Punjab has failed to achieve its diversification goals. Of the total cultivated area, rice crop has been grown on 89.5% (almost 90%) of the total cultivable area, while alternative crops such as maize, cotton and others have faced significant setbacks as the area under both crops has not reached the desired level and just 10% area could be brought under these till date.
Last year, during the Kharif season, a total of 36.10 lakh hectares were brought under various Kharif crops, including 31.68 lakh hectares under rice, which accounted for 87.7% of the total Kharif crops. According to records from the Punjab Agriculture Department (PAU), this year, rice area has been recorded at 31.60 lakh hectares till date, including 5.48 lakh hectares of Basmati and 26.12 lakh hectares under water-intensive paddy (non-Basmati).
Last year, the area under rice was 31.68 lakh hectares, including 4.94 lakh hectares of Basmati. However, this year, re-transplantation on around 86,500 hectares is required due to damage to paddy and Basmati crops caused by floods.
Basmati is more suitable to sow in August than paddy due to its shorter duration and experts said that due to the delay in re-sowing, the area under Basmati may increase by default this year. While the state is expected to have almost the same area under rice as last year, re-sowing of rice is still in progress, and the area may further increase.
In some good news, this year, there has been an increase in area under Basmati. Basmati is almost a month shorter in duration than paddy, and its stubble is used as fodder by farmers instead of being burnt like paddy stubble. Basmati is also considered one of the major alternatives to the paddy crop.
Meanwhile, this year, 65,000 hectares were cultivated using the Direct Seeding of Rice (DSR) technique, compared to 68,000 hectares last year. As for maize, another alternative crop to paddy, 98,000 hectares have been recorded till date, compared to total 93,000 hectares last year.
Although the area under maize has increased by 5,000 hectares compared to last year, the overall maize area has not even reached one lakh hectares to date. Despite the positive increase of 5,000 hectares, maize cultivation has drastically decreased in the state over the years, while Punjab needs to bring at least 4-5 lakh hectares under this crop.
According to the Punjab Agriculture Department (PAU), the area under maize used to be over 5.50 lakh hectares in the 1970s. However, the data of the last decade shows a consistent downward trend: it was recorded at 1.26 lakh hectares, 1.27 lakh hectares, 1.16 lakh hectares, 1.15 lakh hectares, 1.09 lakh hectares, 1.07 lakh hectares, 1.09 lakh hectares, 1.05 lakh hectares, and 93,000 hectares in the years 2014-15, 2015-16, 2016-17, 2017-18, 2018-19, 2019-20, 2020-21, 2021-22, and 2022-23, respectively.
Similarly, cotton also saw a notable decline in its area this year, with only 1.70 lakh hectares brought under it compared to 2.49 lakh hectares last year. The government was hoping to bring around 3 lakh hectares under cotton this year. The sugarcane area has recorded an increase of 7,000 hectares, reaching 97,000 hectares this year from 90,000 hectares last year. But the state needs at least 2-lakh hecatres under sugarcane.
Kharif crops such as Moong/mash, Arhar, and Sesamum have each witnessed an area of 1,000 hectares this year, compared to 5,100 hectares, 1,200 hectares, and 2,100 hectares last year. The groundnut area was 1,700 hectares last year, increasing to 2,000 hectares this year.
According to experts, Punjab needs to bring around 4-5 lakh hecatres under pulses and oilseed crops. Until a few years back, the rice area used to constitute around 80% of the total Kharif crops in the state. However, over the past five years, it has significantly grown, now encompassing close to 90% of the Kharif area. The main driving factors are the assured Minimum Support Price (MSP) and the guaranteed government purchase of rice, along with the lackluster approach of successive state and central governments towards much-needed diversification.
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