In 2009, Punjab became the first state in the country to enact a law banning the sowing of rice before a stipulated date. The aim was to arrest the fall in water table. While the law has succeeded in its objective, it has also fomented discontent among farmers
In 2006, Punjab chief minister Amarinder Singh faced an unprecedented situation. On the one hand, he had to contend with a looming crisis in the form of falling water table. On the other hand, he had to decide on passing a law to arrest the decline in the state’s water table that would deprive farmers the right to sow rice at a time they deem fit.
“A law telling farmers when to sow paddy! No one will accept it,” said the chief minister when a draft legislation prohibiting rice cultivation before a notified date was presented to him by the Punjab State Farmers Commission (PSFC), a body set up in 2005 to deal with the agrarian problems of the state. Gurcharan Singh Kalkat, agriculture scientist and PSFC chairperson, along with members, responded, “It is the only way to arrest the water crisis. Without a law it is impossible to stop farmers from starting paddy cultivationin April.”