Haryana Department of Agriculture targets 1 lakh acre to reduce paddy cultivation : The Tribune India

Tribune press service

British Sharma

Ambala, June 2

In order to promote crop diversification and reduce the acreage of water-intensive paddy crops, the Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare will target 1 lakh acre of land in the 2022 kharif season under the program “ Mera Pani, Meri Virasat”. To achieve this goal, the department has also set district- and culture-specific goals.

Eligibility criteria

• Farmers who grew paddy last year and want to switch to alternative crops
• Those who adopted alternative crops last year and will continue with them on the same field
• Farmers who will keep their paddy fields from last year fallow during the season

The department aims to plant 15,000 acres of corn, 51,500 acres of cotton, 2,500 acres of pulses, 1,000 acres of oilseeds, 15,000 acres of forage/fallow, and 15,000 acres of vegetables in all the state.

The largest share of the targeted land will be in Sirsa district (13,775 acres), followed by Jind (11,655 acres), Fatehabad (10,796 acres), Kaithal (7,338 acres) and Hisar ( 7,088 acres).

Last year, the department had planned to cover 2 lakh acres, but registrations of around 98,000 acres of land have been received. After verification, the department was only able to achieve crop diversification on 53,000 acres. Drawing lessons from the experience of the previous year, the ministry had decided to set a realistic bar this year.

Each crop has been assigned a specific target for each district, based on different agro-climatic conditions. However, the district will also receive an additional budget if it exceeds the set target.

As in previous years, farmers will receive an incentive of Rs 7,000 per acre if they opt for crop diversification. Unlike last year where the incentive was given in two installments, this year the incentive will be given in one installment after physical verification by a committee consisting of department head, patwari, numberdar and farmer concerned.

The benefits of the scheme will be extended to farmers who had grown paddy last year and wish to switch to alternative crops, and to those who had adopted crop diversification last year and will continue with alternative crops on the same field. Farmers who will keep their kharif paddy fields from last year fallow during the season are also eligible for the incentive.

The Director General of the Department of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare, Hardeep Singh, said: “Farmers must register after which the department will get details of the crop sown last year. Verification by a committee at the village level will be carried out. Once the process is completed, the farmer will be compensated for adopting alternative crops. »

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