Chandigarh: Punjab Agriculture and Farmers Welfare Minister Gurmeet Singh Khudian said that the state government has disbursed Rs 27.79 crore to 20,229 farmers, who adopted the water-saving Direct Sowing Rice (DSR) technique, during the 2024 Kharif season.
He shared that paddy was directly sown on 2.53 lakh acres in 2024, a 47 percent increase compared to the 1.72 lakh acres cultivated in the 2023 Kharif season.
Notably, Rs 4.34 crore was released to over 9,500 farmers in the first phase during the first week of March 2025 and now, all the remaining amount has been transferred into the bank accounts of the beneficiary farmers.
To promote sustainable agriculture and reduce water consumption, the Chief Minister Bhagwant Singh Mann-led Punjab government has been actively encouraging farmers to adopt Direct Seeded Rice (DSR), he added.
The minister said that the state government provides an incentive of Rs 1,500 per acre to farmers who directly sow rice seeds into the field, eliminating the need for transplanting seedlings and significantly conserving water. This initiative aims to address the depletion of groundwater and support the state’s agricultural sustainability.