Haryana giving special incentive to farmers to adopt crop diversification

The Haryana government is giving special incentives to farmers for adopting crop diversification, said an official statement here on Sunday.

This will not only enhance their income but will also ensure the protection of the environment. The farmers' future centres around crop diversity, it said.

In this direction, the state government took the initiative and started its ambitious Mera Pani-Meri Virasat Scheme, under which the key objective is to ensure water conservation while crop diversification.

"This scheme is proving to be very effective, and considering its success, a target of saving 42,480 crore litres of water has been set for the year 2023-24," it said.

Under the Mera Pani-Meri Virasat, scheme started in Kharif-2020, the government is providing financial assistance of Rs 7,000 per acre to the farmers for diversifying the paddy crop with alternative crops like maize, cotton, millet, pulses, vegetables and fruits, the statement quoted Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar as saying.

In Kharif year 2020, crop diversification was adopted by 41,947 farmers in a total area of 63,743 acres and a grant of Rs 45 crore was provided for this.

Due to this, a total of 22,565 crore litres of water was saved, he said.

According to the statement, in Kharif 2023, alternative crops of the previous year have been included this year as well and in this scheme, a total target of 1.20 lakh acres has been set under the crop diversification, on which a grant amount of about Rs 84 crore is expected to be spent by the state government.

The total target of this scheme is to save approximately 42,480 crore litres of water. Till July 31, 2023, a total of 32,150 farmers have registered their 70,170 acres of crops under this scheme, it added.

Meanwhile, Khattar said the state government has implemented the natural farming scheme to protect soil health from degradation and to discourage the use of harmful pesticides.

A target of 20,000 acres (16,000 acres agriculture and 4,000 acres horticulture) has been set to encourage natural farming in 2023-24.

For this, the government has started a dedicated portal and till now 9,169 farmers have shown their interest in natural farming by registering on the portal, Khattar noted.

Under this scheme, an assistance of Rs 3,000 will be provided to purchase four drums for a farmer to prepare a natural fertiliser produced by mixing cow's dung and urine and Rs 25,000 will be provided for the purchase of indigenous cows and a provision has been made to give incentive amount on branding and packaging of natural farming products, he said.

The chief minister emphasised that aside from the cultivation of traditional crops in the agriculture sector, transitioning towards horticulture crops is equally important. Recognising this, the state government is making dedicated efforts to motivate farmers to embrace horticulture crops instead of traditional ones.

Apart from this, he said that with the aim of promoting water conservation, the government has also started the scheme of direct sowing of paddy.

Under this, demonstration plants will be set up to promote direct sowing of paddy -- Direct Seeded Rice (DSR)-- in 12 districts -- Ambala, Yamunanagar, Karnal, Kurukshetra, Kaithal, Panipat, Jind, Sonipat, Fatehabad, Sirsa, Hisar and Rohtak.

There is a provision to give an incentive amount of Rs 4,000 per acre to verified farmers. Physical verification of 72,900 acres was done in 2022-23. Under this, Rs 29.16 crore has been allocated to the farmers. Apart from this, a target of 2 lakh acres has been set for Kharif 2023.

Under the DSR technique, which needs far less water for irrigation, paddy seeds are drilled into the field with the help of a machine that does the seeding of rice and spray of herbicide simultaneously.

In the traditional method, first, young paddy plants are raised by farmers in nurseries, and then, these plants are uprooted and transplanted in a puddled field.