In an attempt to arrest the water table decline, the Haryana government has banned the cultivation of paddy on panchayat land ahead of the sowing season.
These eight blocks include Assandh in Karnal district, Pundri in Kaithal district, Radaur in Yamunanagar district, Ambala-I and Saha in Ambala district, Thanesar in Kurukshetra district, Narwana in Jind district and Gannaur in Sonepat district.
The government has issued directions to the deputy commissioners concerned to ensure that the panchayat land lease out to farmers is not used for cultivating paddy in the coming season.
As per the officials in the state agriculture department, the move will help the government achieve its target of diversifying around 1 lakh hectares of land, out of the total 12.50 lakh hectares under the water-guzzling paddy crop in the state.
They said the government was also considering increasing the amount of cash incentive provided to farmers adopting crop diversification on their own land.
“The decision will not only help save the ground water, but also reduce the number of incidents of stubble burning in the state as most of the blocks indentified for this project are known for cultivating paddy, said Surender Yadav, deputy director of state agriculture department.
However, the decision has evoked a mixed response from farmers as many claimed that the move would affect landless and small farmers, who depend on panchayat land.
{{/usCountry}}However, the decision has evoked a mixed response from farmers as many claimed that the move would affect landless and small farmers, who depend on panchayat land.
{{/usCountry}}Some sarpanches in the identified blocks opined that the decision would reduce panchayats’ income as the farmers would hesitate in taking the land on lease due to the alternate crops not being profitable enough.
Karnal deputy commissioner Nishant Yadav said, “We have issued the directions to village panchayats in the Assandh block and the farmers will not be allowed to grow paddy on the panchayat land here.”
“After the notification, the auction of panchayat land has been deferred and will be held after May 10 as per the government’s instructions,” said Yamunanagar deputy commissioner Mukul Kumar.
Last year, the state government had introduced ‘Jal Hi Jeevan Hai’ diversification scheme with a target to shift about 50,000 hectares of land from paddy to other crops in seven out of the aforementioned eight blocks. Even cash subsidies of ₹4,500 per hectare were awarded to the farmers besides free seeds and free crop insurance cover for adopting the crop diversification technique.
Last month, chief minister Manohar Lal Khattar had urged various union leaders to encourage farmers to adopt crop diversification.