Punjab’s paddy area has touched an all-time high of 32.76 lakh hectares (around 81 lakh acres) this kharif season, with both Basmati and non-Basmati rice contributing to the increase, according to data compiled by the Punjab Agriculture Department. The rise comes despite years of government efforts to diversify the state’s paddy-dominated cropping pattern and reduce pressure on its rapidly depleting groundwater.
Punjab has around 36 lakh hectares under cultivation during the kharif season, which means that more than 90 per cent of the state’s kharif area is now under rice, when both Basmati and non-Basmati varieties are taken together.
The total area under paddy stood at 31.79 lakh hectares in 2023-24 and it rose to 32.43 lakh hectares in 2024-25. It has reached 32.76 lakh hectares this season, the highest in the state’s recorded history.
The increase has come from both categories. The area under non-Basmati, which stood at 25.83 lakh hectares in 2023-24, declined marginally to 25.63 lakh hectares last year, but has risen again to 25.90 lakh hectares this season. The area under Basmati, meanwhile, has increased from 6.39 lakh hectares in 2023-24 to 6.80 lakh hectares in 2024-25 and 6.86 lakh hectares this year.
The rise in Basmati acreage can be seen as a positive trend as it gives farmers an alternative to conventional, government-procured paddy and, owing to its shorter growing cycle, can reduce water use compared with some non-Basmati varieties. However, the overall increase in rice acreage remains a concern. The shift towards Basmati has not translated into any reduction in Punjab’s total area under paddy.
In fact, Basmati acreage itself remains below the levels seen a decade ago. It covered 7.63 lakh hectares in 2015, compared to 6.86 lakh hectares this season. Thus, while Basmati has gained ground over the past two years, its long-term acreage has not shown a sustained upward trend.
The latest figures underline the larger challenge before Punjab’s crop diversification programme. Alternative kharif crops such as cotton, maize and sugarcane together rarely crossed 4 lakh hectares in most years, and in recent years their combined area has fallen to around three lakh hectares.
Cotton, once a major crop in Punjab’s Malwa region, has seen one of the sharpest declines. From 3.35 lakh hectares in 2015, its area has fallen to just around 80,000 hectares this year, a decline of more than 76 per cent.
Maize, which policymakers have repeatedly identified as one of the key alternatives to paddy, has also failed to make significant gains. Its area has declined from 1.26 lakh hectares in 2015-16 to below one lakh hectares in recent years.
Sugarcane, meanwhile, has remained largely stagnant, with its area hovering between 90,000 and 95,000 hectares since 2015-16.
The contrast is stark. While the government has been urging farmers to move away from paddy, the major alternative kharif crops have either lost acreage or remained stagnant. The result is that the space vacated by crops such as cotton has not been filled by other alternatives at the scale required for meaningful diversification.
The Agriculture Department’s comparative data also raises another concern: the increase in paddy acreage has not been accompanied by a corresponding increase in productivity.
The average yield of non-Basmati paddy was 7,172 kg per hectare in 2023-24, declining marginally to 7,101 kg per hectare in 2024-25. Its production consequently fell from 18.53 million tonne to 18.20 million tonne during the same period.
For Basmati, the average yield increased from 4,866 kg per hectare in 2023-24 to 5,047 kg per hectare in 2024-25. The increase in acreage, therefore, does not necessarily indicate an improvement in overall productivity or production efficiency.
Farmers also opt for this crop because of its export-linked market and the possibility of better returns, while its shorter duration makes it relatively more water-efficient than some conventional paddy varieties.
But from the perspective of crop diversification and groundwater conservation, replacing non-Basmati paddy with Basmati is only a partial shift. Both are rice crops, and an increase in Basmati acreage cannot compensate for the fact that the overall area under rice continues to rise.
This is particularly worrying in a state where groundwater depletion has become one of the most serious threats to agricultural sustainability.
A 2017-18 Central Ground Water Board report had warned that Punjab could face an agricultural crisis by 2039, with farmers potentially having to drill to depths of around 1,000 feet to access groundwater.
Agriculture economist and expert Dr Sardara Singh Johal, who has for years advocated a fundamental shift in Punjab’s cropping pattern, has repeatedly warned of a water emergency caused by the excessive extraction of groundwater to support paddy cultivation. His argument has consistently been that crop diversification cannot succeed merely through appeals to farmers; it requires a policy framework that makes alternative crops financially viable.
The question, therefore, is not simply why farmers are unwilling to diversify. It is whether Punjab has created an alternative agricultural economy that can offer them the same combination of assured markets, price security and income that paddy provides.
Narinder Singh Benipal, Joint Director (Plant Protection), Punjab, said the state government was making every effort to increase the area under Basmati, which has a crop duration of around one month less than conventional paddy and requires less water. He said the area under Direct Seeded Rice (DSR) had also increased by 36 per cent this year, helping reduce water consumption.
However, he said farmers would not shift to alternative crops unless the Centre provided MSP and assured procurement for them. “The Centre has a major role to play in promoting crop diversification,” he said.
Punjab's paddy area has reached a record 32.76 lakh hectares, with rice now covering more than 90% of the state's kharif cultivation area. 
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