Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann announced that the state government has taken the decision to prohibit the cultivation of the water-intensive PUSA-44 variety of paddy crop starting from the upcoming Kharif season. After officially commencing the paddy procurement operations in the state, Mann also appealed to farmers to discontinue the practice of burning stubble.
He instructed the food, civil supplies, and consumer affairs departments to ensure a smooth and trouble-free procurement process during the current Kharif Marketing Season, which begins on October 1. Mann emphasized the government's commitment to purchase every grain from the farmers while urging them to avoid planting the PUSA-44 variety due to its longer ripening period and higher crop residue production. He stated that starting from the next season, the PUSA-44 variety will be banned in Punjab. The chief minister pointed out that this variety takes 152 days to ripen, whereas the PR-126 variety only takes 92 days, and it also requires more water for irrigation.
He further mentioned that new varieties will be developed for paddy cultivation in the future. Mann encouraged farmers to refrain from stubble burning and highlighted the distribution of crop residue machinery to help manage stubble on-site and off-site. He also noted that brick kilns are mandated to use stubble as fuel, and several companies are collecting stubble from farmers.
Regarding the issue of DAP (diammonium phosphate) for wheat sowing, Mann stated that the state government has raised it with the Centre and received 3 lakh metric tonnes of supply. He assured strict adherence to timely payment norms for farmers. While the state had requested a cash credit limit of Rs 42,000 crore from the Centre for paddy procurement, it has received Rs 37,000 crore so far.
The chief minister also mentioned the establishment of 1,854 purchase centers for paddy and assured that necessary arrangements for gunny bags and storage covers have been made well in advance. The state government has set a target of purchasing 173 lakh metric tonnes out of the 182.10 lakh MT of paddy during the Kharif season.
