Chandigarh, January 28, 2025 (Yes Punjab News)
Member of Legislative Assembly from Kapurthala, Rana Gurjeet Singh today seriously raised concerns over rapidly depleting ground water table in Punjab and emphasized for a change in crop pattern and bring-in the diversification as a most viable solution.
The MLA called for immediate steps to mitigate the crisis, while advocating for the cultivation of maize instead of water guzzling paddy that consumes atleast 3,367 litres of water per kilogram of rice.
Addressing the media persons here today Rana Gurjeet Singh highlighted the grave consequences shifting area under cotton to paddy cultivation that has further exacerbated the water depletion problem. “Earlier, Punjab used to have 8 to 10 lakh hectares of land under cotton cultivation, but due to several factors, including easy availability of tube well and canal water, cotton growers gradually shifted away from cotton.
“The spread of the Pink Ball Worm pest has considerably added to the shirking of the area under cotton, intensifying water scarcity in the state,” said Rana Gurjeet Singh. According to the legislator the Pink Ball Worm could have been managed however the failure of the government multiplied the woes.
“The Pink Ball Worm spread rapidly in the Malwa belt over the last 3-4 years, and the government’s inaction in controlling it worsened the situation,” the MLA explained.
For farmers to earn adequate remunerative prices by adopting best agricultural practices Rana Gurjeet Singh suggested for adopting maize cultivation. He pointed out that maize requires relatively less water than paddy, making it a viable alternative for farmers in the regions facing water scarcity.
“If farmers are suffering losses year after year owing to the cotton cultivation, shifting to maize is a practical solution,” he suggested. Giving data on the drastic fall in area under cotton cultivation, the MLA said that it has shrunk to just 98,000 hectares. He also questioned the Agriculture Department’s failure to address the issue, urging them to support farmers in shifting to maize.
The MLA further explained that in the last kharif season, after learning that farmers in the Malwa region were forced to plough cotton field due to infestation the Pink Ball Worm, he had sent experts to Fazilka to explore alternative solutions.
“Maize could be successfully cultivated in the region, and could further serve as a model for the rest of Punjab,” he said.
Emphasizing the urgency of addressing Punjab’s depleting water table, he warned that if the current rate of water depletion continues, the water availability might be inadequate for agriculture.
Rana Gurjeet Singh urged the Punjab Government to provide a support of ₹10,000 per acre to farmers as a compensation to save power and to promote diversification from paddy to maize. Rana Gurjeet also suggested that the Government of India should also offer ₹15,000 per acre as financial assistance for maize cultivation, till it is a success story.
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