Punjab finds it hard to shun high stubble-producing paddy variety

With paddy sowing in Punjab set to start from June 10, the government is facing a stiff challenge in dealing with the highest stubble-producing variety of PUSA 44

BATHINDA : With paddy sowing in Punjab set to start from June 10, the government is facing a stiff challenge in dealing with the highest stubble-producing variety of PUSA 44.

With paddy sowing in Punjab set to start from June 10, the government is facing a stiff challenge in dealing with the highest stubble-producing variety of PUSA 44.

This unrecommended non-basmati, water-guzzler variety is tagged as an environmental hazard as it takes a month longer to mature and is also considered a key contributor to farm fires every year. But it is popular among rice cultivators in Punjab due to its higher yield, say experts.

The PUSA-44, developed by the Delhi-based Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR), commonly referred to as PUSA Institute, is one of the oldest varieties grown in Punjab.

“Since it matures late, PUSA-44 leaves a short window for wheat sowing in the rabi season and hinders best practices for paddy stubble management,” said director of extension education at Punjab Agricultural University Gurmeet Singh Buttar.

Paddy residue management holds significance as stubble burning in Punjab and Haryana is a major reason behind the alarming spike in air pollution levels in the national capital in October and November. Farmers set their fields on fire to quickly clear off the crop residue as the window between paddy harvesting and sowing of the next crop is short.

Ferozepur chief agriculture officer of Tejpal Singh said PUSA-44 takes 145-150 days to mature which is 30 days more than the other varieties of recommended parmal rice.

“PUSA-44 gains notoriety for requiring 5-6 extra cycles of irrigation. It generates about 30 quintals of straw per acre which is 5-7 quintals more than the other varieties,” he said.

In 2022-23 kharif cycle, this long-duration variety was sown on about 13 lakh acres and the government has been asking farmers to switch to short-duration varieties like PR-126 and PR-128.

Agriculture officials estimate that this year, PUSA-44 is likely to be sown over 7-10 lakh acres of the total 74 lakh acres in Punjab.

PUSA-44, which is largely grown in Barnala, Sangrur, Ferozepur, Patiala and Moga districts is notorious for producing more organic waste than other paddy varieties.

Punjab agriculture director Gurvidner Singh said this year a drop of 3-4 lakh acres is expected under PUSA-44 as the department has intensified a drive against the water-intensive variety.

“Following a recommendation of Punjab to phase out the unwanted variety, the central government withdrew PUSA-44 from the seed chain last year. Now, its production cannot be done by in the public and private sectors. Farmers having personal seed banks will continue sowing it this year. But the certified seeds of PUSA-44 will not be available for the 2024-25 kharif sowing season and we hope to get rid of it from next year,” the agriculture director said.

“Higher yield calculation is a misnomer. Farmers do not calculate higher cost input, stress on groundwater, higher chemical load and more use of electricity to run tubewells for this long-duration variety. Being long-duration variety, it remains more exposed to pest attacks. PUSA-44 is a water guzzler and PAU strictly voices against it,” said Buttar.

Haryana bans sowing of long-duration variety

The neighbouring Haryana has banned the sowing of PUSA-44 from this season. “In 2022, the Haryana government launched a campaign to discourage farmers from sowing this variety. But from the current kharif season, sowing of PUSA-44 is prohibited,” said the director of Jind-based State Agricultural Management and Extension Training Institute (HAMETI), an autonomous public-sector body in Haryana, Karam Chand.

A progressive rice cultivator from Dhanaula in Barnala district Harvinder Singh blames the state authorities for failing to sensitise farmers about the field success of short-duration paddy varieties. He said 5-7 quintals of more yield of PUSA-44 is the biggest attraction for farmers.

“Our joint family has about 65 acres and we have been sowing PUSA-44 and other long-duration varieties for the last several years. After limited field experiments with short-duration PR-128 variety since 2020, we have completely phased out PUSA-44 this year,” he said.