Haryana sets target to diversify one lakh acre

₹ 7,000 PER ACRE CASH INCENTIVE WILL BE PAID TO FARMERS FOR DIVERSIFICATION AND KEEPING FIELDS EMPTY

KARNAL: Aiming to cut the area under water-guzzler paddy cultivation in state, the Haryana government has set a target to diversify at least one lakh acre under the ‘Mera Pani, Meri Virasat’ scheme.

Under the scheme, farmers will be given a cash incentive of Rs 7,000 per acre for growing alternate crops including maize, pulses and cereals.

The incentive will also be given to farmers if they do not grow any crop in their fields during the paddy seasons. The government will also pay Rs 7,000 per acre incentive for the fallow land if farmers do not grow any crop and keep their fields empty for helping government save groundwater.

The paddy is sown on around 15 lakh hectare in Haryana and the scheme aims to bring it down. The scheme was introduced in 2020 for replacement of paddy by maize, cotton, bajra and pulses in one lakh hectare or 2.5 lakh acre in targeted blocks of paddy-sowing districts having water table more than 40m. Last year, the target was of two lakh acre.

The state government has also announced a cash incentive of Rs 4,000 per acre for famers for adopting direct seeding of rice (DSR) to promote water conservation, encouraging farmers to grow paddy without puddling which takes a lot of groundwater for flooding the fields.

This year, the government has set a target of bringing 51,500 acre under cotton, 15,000 acre each under fodder, horticulture crop and maize, 2,500 acre under pulses, and 1,000 acre under oilseeds.

As per the notification issued by the director general of agriculture and farmers’ welfare department, the highest target to diversify 13,775 acre has been given to Sirsa, followed by 11,655 acre in Jind, 10,796 acre in Fatehabad, 7,338 acre in Kaithal, 7,088 acre in Hisar, 5,935 acre in Yamunanagar, 5,600 acre in Karnal, 5,100 acre in Sonepat, 5,041 acre in Ambala, 4,378 acre in Bhiwani, 4,080 acre in Jhajjar, 3,340 acre in Charkhi Dadri, 3,090 acre in Kurukshetra, 2,908 acre in Rohtak, 2,575 acre each in Panipat and Panchkula.

Small targets of 885 acre in Nuh (Mewat), 805 acre in Gurugram, 738 acre in Rewari, and 700 acre in Palwal were given in the rain-fed districts as well. There is no target for Mahendragarh

district.

Ground-level officers have been directed to make efforts to achieve the targets of this scheme. Deputy director agriculture and district horticulture officers will be the nodal officers and the whole onus regarding achievement of the target lies on them.

The state has been divided into four zones and top-level officers of the agriculture department have been given responsibility to achieve the target. The government will also ensure procurement of all alternate crops on minimum support price.

As per the notification, interested farmers have to register themselves on ‘Mera Fasal, Mera Byora’ portal giving details of the diversified land. Then, a team of the officials including those of agriculture department, halka patwari, and village numberdar will conduct the first physical verification after August 15.

After verification, the incentive will be deposited in bank accounts of the farmers.

“We are hopeful that we can achieve the target as we need to take farmers along in this initiative to save groundwater. We have given responsibility to zone-wise officers of the rank of additional directors to lead the campaign,” said Hardeep Singh, director general department of agriculture and farmers welfare.