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Punjab News. In view of falling ground water level and increasing pollution due to stubble burning in Punjab, the government has banned the Pusa-44 variety of paddy. This variety of paddy, which consumes more water and produces 20 percent more stubble, will not be sown from the next season. Although Pusa-44 paddy is a high yielding variety, the government will not procure it from next year due to better climate.
Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann urged farmers to stop sowing Pusa-44, saying that this water-intensive variety not only takes longer to mature but also produces a lot of stubble.
It is estimated that 2 crore tonnes of paddy straw will be produced in Punjab this year. It has only 3.3 tonnes of basmati straw. Pusa-44 Paddy takes 152 days to mature. This variety produces 20 percent more straw than other varieties. In contrast, PR-126 variety of paddy takes only 92 days to mature. There is a difference of two months between the two types. IARI had banned breeder seed production of Pusa-44 three years ago.
This time we had advised not to plant Pusa-44, so we will remove it from the market…but in the coming paddy season, we will ban Pusa-44 from Punjab and let farmers plant PR-126 paddy as it will only ripen at maturity. It takes only 92 days, thus two months of water is also saved pic.twitter.com/bhldZpKPcz
— Bhagwant Mann (@BhagwantMann) October 3, 2023
The fields will remain empty for two months
Dr. Hari Singh Brar, agronomist at Punjab Agricultural University (PAU), says that this two-month interval can help reduce pollution caused by stubble burning in fields, as it will continue after October. Windy and cold weather increases pollution. He argues that farmers will find their fields vacant for two months and can earn money by planting vegetables or anything else there. Growing short-duration paddy varieties not only gives farmers at least 25 days to manage stubble but also saves irrigation water and other costs. Apart from this, there will also be about a month’s extra time to prepare the fields before sowing wheat.
Farmers will get more time for sowing wheat
Short duration varieties PR-126, Pusa Basmati-1509 and Pusa Basmati-1692 are being promoted in Punjab. These varieties mature in 120 days, but out of the total 3.1 lakh hectares of paddy area in the state, the short duration paddy variety has been sown in only 5-6 lakh hectares.
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