हिंदी
Chandigarh, September 3- If one strives to do any work out of the box, then certainly, results are very inspiring. This applies well in agriculture sector. It has often been observed that while on the one hand, the cost of farming in the traditional way is high, on the other hand, farmer do not get as much yield as they should.
However, Haryana Government has taken various initiatives to motivate farmers to adopt modern techniques instead of traditional farming so that they can get good yields at low cost by adopting these modern techniques.
As far as paddy cultivation is concerned it is very costly for the farmer and also takes a toll on the environment. It can be seen that the falling ground water level in many areas of the state is a cause of concern not only for the farmers but also for the government. ‘Mera Pani Meri Virasat’ scheme has been implemented by the State Government to deal with the problem of depleting ground water levels and further motivate the farmers to adopt crop diversification.
In addition, farmers are also being encouraged for direct sowing of paddy and the positive results of this can also be seen. A comparative study of pumpkin seedlings and direct sown fields by agricultural scientists of Chaudhary Charan Singh Haryana Agricultural University, Hisar has shown that direct sowing can be much more beneficial.
The agricultural scientist of the Department of Botany, Dr. Satbir Singh Punia says that due to continuous decline in ground water level and shortage of labourers, under the guidance of agricultural scientists of the department, many farmers of the state had sown their crops directly.
Direct sowing has been done in 5 to 10 percent area in Ratia, Fatehabad, Yamunanagar, Kaithal, Asandh area. Farmers in Mehammadki village located in Ratia and other villages of this area had sown paddy directly in their fields in an area measuring 85 to 105 acres.
Sharing their experiences, the farmers of many villages in these areas said that the problem of bakanae disease in crops did not occur at all when they had adopted the technique of direct sowing of paddy, while this problem has been seen in the pumpkin fields despite seed treatment.
Direct sowing of paddy not only saves the cost, which is around Rs. 5000 to 7000 per acre, but also does not affect the yield. In addition, direct sowing of fields also save 20 to 30 percent of water. Farmers who had earlier sown directly and due to some apprehension had prepared the field again and planted it by pumpkin method, are now in favour of direct sowing of paddy next year.
The Vice Chancellor of the University, Professor Samar Singh said that he himself has done research work on direct sowing of paddy in the Regional Research Institute, Karnal for many years and has done direct sowing of paddy. Given its benefits, farmers should adopt direct sown paddy fields in their village or surrounding areas.
