The government plans to
revive cultivation of crops that make Punjab’s iconic "makki ki roti and
sarson ka saag" — maize and mustard — along with horticulture and
fodder to breathe life into the stressed soil and the rapidly depleting
water table in the green-revolution state.
Prime Minister
Manmohan Singh is pushing hard for crop diversification in Punjab and
has appointed an inter-ministerial panel on crop diversification led by
Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar to help farmers look beyond paddy that
guzzles water, fertiliser and power. Farm experts say eastern India,
which has plenty of water and the region chosen for the next wave of the
green revolution, is a better location for such crops. The government
has already allocated Rs 500 crore to start the programme of crop
diversification. The panel will also review infrastructure required to
market, support and procure alternative crops. It includes ministers of
finance, food and commerce and the deputy chairman of the Planning
Commission.
Growing alternative crops such as maize, mustard and
cotton is expected to reduce water consumption and help revive the water
table in Punjab, which is sinking by 33 cm every year.
"We will
motivate farmers to go for alternative crops like maize, mustard and
cotton. But for that we need to make them equally remunerative. We are
devising market interventions and mechanisms to protect their income
levels on diversification," said Agriculture Secretary Ashish Bahuguna.
The
panel will review policies and measures for the restoration of quality
of natural resources like soil and water in the region, said a senior
agriculture department official.
Pawar has asked Punjab and
Haryana farmers to introduce alternative crops such as pulses, oilseeds,
fodder crops and horticultural crops as an alternative to wheat and
rice. Officials said the government was assessing the impact of various
crops on soil and water in the traditionally grain-producing state.
Ashok
Gulati, chairman, Commission for Agricultural Costs and Prices (CACP),
which advises government on fixing minimum support prices for crops,
said rice cultivation should immediately shift to eastern states like
Bihar and eastern Uttar Pradesh where water is available in plenty. He
said the acreage under wheat and paddy should be reduced by 1 million
hectare. Paddy is being cultivated on 2.8 million hectare in Punjab now
while wheat is grown on 4 million hectare. "Punjab should start growing
maize for which it was once known for. While paddy cultivation needs 25
rounds of irrigation, maize requires only 5 rounds, which can conserve
groundwater," Gulati said.
He said farmers should be motivated to
grow maize by offering them viability gap fund (VGF) of Rs 5,000-8,000 a
hectare, which will make it as remunerative as rice. "Paddy needs more
water, fertiliser and power. The subsidy outgo of the government is
around Rs 12,000 per hectare. Even if government pays the VGF, it will
be able to save some subsidy and farmers may get adequately remunerated
and motivated," he said.
Meanwhile, Punjab chief minister Prakash
Singh Badal has demanded a technology mission for agriculture
diversification with an allocation ofRs 5,000 crore. He also demanded a
remunerative MSP and an assured marketing system for alternative crops
such as maize, soya bean, cotton and sugarcane to give a fillip to the
farm diversification programme in the state.
However, farmers are
not ready to go for alternative crops saying that they do not have a
proper market. "The minimum support price (MSP) for wheat and paddy is
known but before diverting farming towards cash crops, they should
prepare a proper market for that. In fact, they should announce the MSP
first," said Sudhir Panwar, president, Kisan Jagrati Manch, a farmer
body. He said growing cash crops will also add up to the input cost of
farmers as Punjab depends heavily on expensive migrant labourers.
"Punjab
farmers have enough equipment for cultivating wheat and paddy. It
requires less effort now but horticulture, floriculture, and cultivation
of vegetables, oil seeds, pulses require labour, which is scarce and
quite costly in this region," he said.