HoneY
MaaPeya Da LaaDLa
BATHINDA: The unseasonal rain in Punjab in the past two weeks may have brought relief for the overburdened Punjab State Electricity Board (PSEB) and brought down the temperature but it has spelled doom for agricultural diversifictation in the state.
While in the last week of April the shortage of canal water for irrigation caused delay in cotton sowing, the recent rain not only caused extensive loss to the sown crop but also provided encouragement to farmers for growing paddy.
This, apart from affecting diversification, also means farmers will go back to using groundwater, which the paddy crop needs. Another reason the farmers are feeling encouraged to grow paddy is the PSEB's Own Your Tube well (OYT) scheme. PSEB plans to release over one lakh power connections to farmers under the scheme.
The scheme, with obvious populist overtones, will further endanger the water table of the state, which is in no great shape anyway. Sources in agriculture department revealed this year the area under cotton will decrease by about one lakh hectares in Punjab, falling from 6.48 lakh hectares last year to 5.50 lakh hectares this year.
In Haryana and Rajasthan also, the cotton area will decrease, revealed sources, as there was acute shortage of irrigation water there in April.
Muktsar, which is a cotton-growing area because of limited water availability, is also seeing a large number of farmers opting for paddy cultivation as there is a lot of waterlogging there, OYT scheme and the recent spell of rain being the other contributing factors. This has the textile industry in north India worried. An industry representative said cotton prices will rise steeply as a result of this. Increased export of cotton will be another reason for the shortage.
In 2006-2007, the total export of cotton was around 58 lakh bales while in 2007-2008 it increased to 96 lakh bales, said sources.
While in the last week of April the shortage of canal water for irrigation caused delay in cotton sowing, the recent rain not only caused extensive loss to the sown crop but also provided encouragement to farmers for growing paddy.
This, apart from affecting diversification, also means farmers will go back to using groundwater, which the paddy crop needs. Another reason the farmers are feeling encouraged to grow paddy is the PSEB's Own Your Tube well (OYT) scheme. PSEB plans to release over one lakh power connections to farmers under the scheme.
The scheme, with obvious populist overtones, will further endanger the water table of the state, which is in no great shape anyway. Sources in agriculture department revealed this year the area under cotton will decrease by about one lakh hectares in Punjab, falling from 6.48 lakh hectares last year to 5.50 lakh hectares this year.
In Haryana and Rajasthan also, the cotton area will decrease, revealed sources, as there was acute shortage of irrigation water there in April.
Muktsar, which is a cotton-growing area because of limited water availability, is also seeing a large number of farmers opting for paddy cultivation as there is a lot of waterlogging there, OYT scheme and the recent spell of rain being the other contributing factors. This has the textile industry in north India worried. An industry representative said cotton prices will rise steeply as a result of this. Increased export of cotton will be another reason for the shortage.
In 2006-2007, the total export of cotton was around 58 lakh bales while in 2007-2008 it increased to 96 lakh bales, said sources.
