Ludhiana, April 12 (IANS) Reiterating the commitment of the government to save the groundwater for coming generations, Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann on Saturday announced to start zone-wise cultivation of the paddy from June 1.
“We have divided the state into three zones and the cultivation of paddy will start in the district falling in three zones, i.e. on June 1, June 5 and June 9,” said the Chief Minister while addressing the gathering during Sarkar Kisaan Milni here. The Chief Minister said Punjab is the food bowl of the country as it contributes 45 per cent of grains in the national food pool. However, in 70 days of paddy season, Punjab pumps out water equal to nine Gobind Sagars (lakes), which is a huge quantity.
“By pumping out so much water, we will deprive our coming generations of water, which is the basic ingredient of our existence,” he said. Citing an example, the Chief Minister said that 4,000 litres of water is required for producing one kg rice so it is posing a serious threat to the basic existence of coming generations, due to which the state government is making concerted efforts to save it.
He said the cultivation of paddy in the state has increased from 20 lakh hectares to 32 lakh hectares, due to which the need for water to irrigate the fields has also increased. Mann said due to efforts of the government, the groundwater level has started increasing, and as per a report of the Union government, it has witnessed an upward enhancement of one metre.
In an initiative, the Chief Minister said the government has decided to start cultivation of paddy from June 1, for which the state has been divided into three zones. He said that paddy cultivation in Faridkot, Bathinda, Fazilka, Ferozepur and Sri Muktsar Sahib Districts will start from June 1, while in Gurdaspur, Pathankot, Amritsar, Tarn Tarn, Rupnagar, SAS Nagar (Mohali), Sri Fatehgarh Sahib, and Hoshiarpur districts will start on June 5. In the remaining districts of Ludhiana, Moga, Jalandhar, Mansa, Malerkotla, Sangrur, Patiala, Barnala, Shaheed Bhagat Singh Nagar and Kapurthala, it will start on June 9.
The Chief Minister said it would help in reducing the immediate burden for the supply of power in all districts during the paddy season. He said that it would avoid complications for the farmers in selling their paddy harvest due to high moisture content in October.
–IANS
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