Beyond the frightening cries of coronavirus outbreak and displaced migrants, a section of farmers in Punjab, Haryana and Telangana, to begin with, are debating this: Can government decide which crop they cultivate in their fields?
It began with Punjab. The story began during 1970’s as a side-effect of green revolution but in mid-2000’s, it assumed critical proportion. Incumbent Captain Amarinder Singh was chief minister of Punjab back then.
Wide-scale cropping of paddy had caused extensive decline of water table in Punjab. Some suggested bringing a law to regulate paddy culture. “A law telling farmers when to sow paddy? Nobody will accept it,” Captain had said.
Finally, a law came in Punjab in 2009. It is called the Preservation of Sub-soil Water Act and authorizes the government to notify the dates for paddy transplantation.
Neighbouring Haryana emulated the law, which empowers the state government to destroy standing paddy crops or a nursery to save water.
The cost of uprooting the roots of the plants is to be borne by the farmers, who will be penalized Rs 10,000 per hectare per month for violation of the law.
Notifying dates is an important tool with the government to save water. It is estimated that if paddy is sown in April-May, producing one kg of rice requires 4,500 litres of water.
If transplantation dates are advanced to mid-June, water requirement comes down to 1,500-2,000 litres per kg of rice. Difference is due to rate of evaporation and onset of monsoon during the period.
Punjab has since been encouraging farmers to shift to cash-crops such as cotton instead of paddy. Now, Haryana and Telangana have adopted additional measures to virtually dictate what farmers should grow.
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