E-Paper
Malerkotla tops in paddy yield for second consecutive year
The top three positions remained unchanged, with Malerkotla yielding 8,422 kg per hectare, Barnala 7,952 kg per hectare, and Sangrur 7,728 kg per hectare
The latest data obtained from the agriculture department reports Malerkotla as the front-runner in the paddy season 2024-25, followed by Barnala and Sangrur.
According to the data, the state achieved an average paddy yield of 6,674 kg per hectare from a total area of 3,243.3 hectares in the 2024-25 season with Malerkotla first with an yield of impressive 8,026 kg per hectare, Barnala following at 7,394 kg per hectare, and Sangrur securing the third spot with 7,310 kg per hectare.For the third consecutive year, Sangrur has secured the third position in paddy yield.
In the 2023-2024 paddy season, the state recorded an average yield of 6,740 kg per hectare from an area of 3,179 hectares. The top three positions remained unchanged, with Malerkotla yielding 8,422 kg per hectare, Barnala 7,952 kg per hectare, and Sangrur 7,728 kg per hectare.
Looking further back to the 2022-2023 season, the state’s average paddy yield was 6,479 kg per hectare from 3,169.5 hectares under paddy cultivation. While Sangrur maintained its third position with 7,698 kg per hectare, Barnala claimed the top spot in this season with 7,832 kg per hectare, closely followed by Malerkotla with 7,802 kg per hectare.
The notable thing among this is that while the state witnessed ups and downs in three years in paddy yield, the area under paddy cultivation has slightly grown in three consecutive years, it grew from 3,169.5 hectares in the 2022-2023 season to 3,179 hectares in 2023-2024 with minor 0.2% increase and further increased to 3,243.3 hectares in the 2024-2025 season which is 2.02% of the last year.
Malerkotla’s separation from the district was cited by chief agriculture officer Dharminderjit Singh as the reason for Sangrur’s third-place ranking. He explained that the Sangrur belt possesses low soil fertility, while the Malerkotla belt, which became a separate district in 2021, has highly fertile, heavy soil that yields more.
About the increased land under paddy cultivation, the officer said that the reason behind this is the shift of cotton belt areas into the paddy crop which is a short duration crop and yields more profit than cotton. The area includes the regions of Malwa, Mansa, Bathinda, Muktsar and some other districts.
