As most farmers have harvested their wheat crop, they are now waging a campaign demanding permission from the state government to grow hybrid paddy varieties in waterlogging affected areas, where they claim traditional varieties have repeatedly failed.
Notably, the state government has banned hybrid paddy cultivation citing groundwater depletion concerns and alleged poor milling recovery.
A delegation of farmers, under the banner of Samyukta Kisan Morcha (SKM), met Muktsar Deputy Commissioner Abhijeet Kaplish in this regard, informed him that the state government’s decision to ban hybrid varieties of paddy has brought despair.
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“Hybrid paddy is the only viable crop, since cotton has vanished from the region and alternatives are either unavailable or unviable,” they said.
“When we tried the traditional varieties in the past, the seedlings dried up soon. It was heartbreaking. Only hybrid paddy has worked in our conditions. Without it, we are being pushed towards debt and desperation,” said Gobind Singh, a farmer from Kotli Dewan village.
The farmers further argued that the government had already let them down by failing to provide high quality cotton seeds, forcing them to switch to paddy.
“Now, with hybrid seeds banned and most of the PR varieties unsuited to our land, we fear for our future,” said Puran Singh Vattu, president of the Bharti Kisan Union (Ekta Dakonda), Muktsar district.
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The farmers demanded that soil and water samples from waterlogging affected areas be sent to the state government and that exemptions be granted for hybrid paddy cultivation. “The sowing season is approaching and time is slipping through our fingers. We are not asking for luxuries. Just let us grow what keeps us alive. Denying us this is like strangling a man already in debt,” said Jarnail Singh Roranwala, another farmer leader.
The farmers have now warned that if the ban on hybrid paddy is not revoked soon, they will organise mass protests in the region.
According to the state government’s notification, the sowing of paddy through the traditional method of transplanting seedlings will commence from June 1 in Muktsar, Faridkot, Ferozepur, Bathinda and Fazilka districts. However, the direct sowing of rice (DSR) will begin from May 15 across the state.
NOTE – This article was originally published in tribuneindia and can be viewed here
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