The year 2008 proved quite fruitful for agriculture sector in Punjab as the state produced bumper wheat and paddy surpassing the record of last five years. The area under wheat and paddy cultivation went up as minimum support price (MSP) on both the crops was up. Punjab produced 166 lakh tonne of paddy this season.
The state produced 156 lakh tonne of wheat this year against the 146-lakh tonne last year. The area under cotton cultivation went down by 1.5 acre reducing the total production.
Nevertheless, these three major crops in the state generated income around Rs 36,000 crore for farmers against Rs 27,000 crore last year.
The total area under cotton cultivation was 5.5 lakh hectares and total production was 23 lakh bales in the year 2007-08 against 27 lakh bales in the year 2006-07.
Evaluating the performance of agriculture sector, economist and consultant with PSFC (Punjab State Farmers Commission), P S Rangi said, ?At the time when states are reeling under the pressure of economic meltdown, the agriculture sector’s performance was more than satisfactory in Punjab which has resisted the meltdown impact. The income generated from agriculture sector is highest as compared to last five years. Punjab and Haryana have maximum contribution to the food kitty of the nation. The clouds of food shortage have disappeared due to bumper crops this season. The growth in agri sector which was less than two percent per annum has increased to more than 4% now.?
The year also witnessed a significant development as acute farm-labour shortage hit the state in the kharif season that paved the way for mechanised paddy cultivation.
The Central government’s National Rural Employment Guarantee Programme picked up the momentum in Bihar and Uttar Pradesh, which badly affected the inflow of migrant labourers in Punjab. Scarcity of farm-labourers forced the state government to decide to import 700 paddy transplanters from China before the next paddy season.
PSFC has been roped in to arrange these machines and each machine will cost around Rs 1.60 lakh. The state government will also offer 50% subsidy to farmers who will opt for the machine.
To promote the mechanised sowing of rice saplings, the state government bought seven machines from China and four from Japan. Punjab Agriculture University (PAU) demonstrated the use of these transplanters at various places.
Apart from this agro service centres are being introduced in the state to reduce costs and increase profits for the small and marginal farmers who constitute more than 70% of the total hands engaged in agriculture. Around 450 agro services centres have been sanctioned and farmers can avail paddy transplanters from here also.
The small and marginal farmers can hire the necessary machinery from these centers. Initially, the government would subsidize purchase of machinery by the each Center, which would be run by an operator.