DSR GETS BOOST IN PUNJAB; WITNESSES 15% SURGE IN AREA UNDER WATER CONSERVING TECHNIQUE
DSR GETS BOOST IN PUNJAB; WITNESSES 15% SURGE IN AREA UNDER WATER CONSERVING TECHNIQUE
- ₹50 crore allocated to provide ₹1500 financial assistance per acre to farmers opted DSR, says Gurmeet Singh Khudian
- Farmers can register on the portal till July 15 to get financial assistance
Chandigarh, July 4:
Even as the ongoing Kharif sowing season has just attained half-way, the sternous efforts by the Chief Minister S. Bhagwant Singh Mann to exhort farmers to adopt Direct Seeding of Rice (DSR) in the state got a major boost with this water saving technique already witnessing a 15 per cent increase in the area contrasted to the last year. Over 2 lakh acres of area has already been sown using DSR technique, which was 1.72 lakh acres in the whole Kharif season last year.
Punjab Agriculture and Farmers Welfare Minister S. Gurmeet Singh Khudian, while terming it a great success, hoped to accomplish 5 lakh acres of area under DSR this season, as targeted by the Agriculture Department.
He further said that Chief Minister S. Bhagwant Singh Mann led Punjab Government has been providing Rs.1500 financial assistance to encourage the farmers to adopt DSR technique. The Agriculture and Farmers Welfare department allocated Rs. 50 crore for financial assistance to farmers using this technique in 2024-25. Punjab Government provided Rs. 20.33 crore to 17,116 farmers for DSR in 2023-24. S. Gurmeet Singh Khudian urged farmers to join efforts in groundwater conservation through DSR, requiring registration on agrimachinerypb.com by July 15, 2024. The Agriculture Minister noted DSR conserves water, cuts labor costs, and boosts yields.
