source - Press release
Punjab has witnessed a remarkable 44% increase in the area dedicated to Direct Seeding of Rice (DSR) compared to last year. Agriculture and Farmers Welfare Minister S. Gurmeet Singh Khudian announced that the acreage sown using the water-conserving DSR technique has risen to over 2.48 lakh acres, up from 1.72 lakh acres during the Kharif season of 2023. Sri Muktsar Sahib district led the state in using the DSR method.
Minister Khudian stated that an impressive 78,468 acres have been sown using the DSR technique in Sri Muktsar Sahib district, followed by Fazilka with 75,824 acres, Amritsar with 17,913 acres, Ferozepur with 17,644 acres, and Bathinda with 12,760 acres.
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The Punjab Government, led by Chief Minister S. Bhagwant Singh Mann, has been offering Rs. 1500 per acre as financial assistance to motivate farmers to adopt the DSR method over traditional paddy transplanting. During the FY 2023-24, a substantial amount of Rs. 20.33 crores was disbursed to 17,116 farmers to support the adoption of DSR. For the FY 2024-25, the state government has earmarked Rs. 50 crores to incentivize farmers to embrace DSR.
Minister Khudian further mentioned that 24,120 farmers have registered 2.48 lakh acres of land on the DSR portal to date. The Agriculture department’s field officials are diligently verifying the farmers and their DSR-registered land. Once the verification is complete.
The incentive amount will be directly credited to the farmers’ accounts through DBT, ensuring a seamless process for the beneficiaries.
