Advance paddy sowing: Punjab farmers

Vibhor Mohan | TNN | Apr 30, 2020, 09:27 IST

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CHANDIGARH: Citing uncertainty over availability of labour, farmers have already started demanding permission for early transplanting of paddy. However, given the concerns over depleting water table, the state government may not oblige this time.
Farmers’ associations have demanded that paddy transplanting should be allowed from June 1 as by then some of the missing labour would have returned to Punjab from other states.

During chief minister Amarinder Singh’s video conferencing with Congress legislators on Tuesday, Gurdaspur MLA Barindermeet Singh Pahra suggested that in view of the labour issues, paddy transplanting should be allowed to begin from June 10.
Last year, defying orders of the state government to transplant paddy crop from June 13 onwards, a section of farmers had begun planting the saplings from June 1. They had even threatened of launching a protest if their crop was uprooted. The state government had allowed relaxation in the schedule by preponing the date from June 20 to June 13 in 2019.
Harinder Singh Lakhowal, general secretary of Bharatiya Kissan Union (Lakhowal), said permission to transplant paddy should be given from June 1. “Due to labour issues, transplanting of paddy will take at least two months in the state and it is imperative that transplanting is started early. During this period, the state government should ensure regular supply of electricity,” he said.
However, an official said that a decision on the schedule for paddy transplanting was yet to be taken by the agriculture department. Normally, paddy transplanting is allowed from June 20 onwards in the state.
“It is a populist thing to demand early transplanting of paddy as a short-term gain by ignoring the reports of drastically depleting groundwater in the state. The state government should act with prudence and not give in to such demands,” said a retired officer of agriculture department, requesting anonymity.