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Chandigarh, April 24- With the objective of saving water for future generations and for giving more momentum to the 'Jal Hi Jeevan Hai' campaign, Haryana Chief Minister, Mr. Manohar Lal today exhorted the farmers leaders to encourage farmers to adopt crop diversification and sow crops consuming less water like Maize, Arhar, sesame, Guar, moong etc, instead of rice.
The Chief Minister made this appeal while interacting with the leaders of various farmers’ associations of the State, through video conferencing here today.
During the interaction, the farmers’ leaders shared their suggestions for making this campaign a success. Further the Chief Minister while welcoming the suggestions assured them that all these suggestions would be incorporated in future schemes. The Chief Minister directed Director General, Agriculture and Farmers’ Welfare, Haryana, Mr. Vijay Dahiya to seek complete information from the farmer leaders regarding their suggestions by calling them to the Agriculture Directorate. Apart from this, new water conservation schemes should be formulated within next 15 days, he added. The Chief Minister also gave directions for preparing a consolidated plan of bore wells in fields and ponds for ground water recharge.
In the meeting, Mukesh Yadav, a progressive farmer from Manjhawali village in Faridabad district, suggested that the farming models of progressive farmers should be visited by other farmers. On this, the Chief Minister directed the officers to prepare a list of 50 to 100 farmers in every district and observe the model adopted by these progressive farmers. He said that the farmers should also adopt the same to increase their income.
The Chief Minister also shared that last year, Haryana had set an example in the country, by starting 'Crop Diversification Pilot Scheme' to grow maize, arhar and other crops in place of paddy in 50,000 hectare area in paddy dominated districts. It was informed that now the scheme has been expanded to an area of 1,00,000 hectares. He said that it is necessary now that the farmer leaders should also come forward for this initiative so that we can ensure water conservation for future generations.
Mr. Manohar Lal said that the message needs to be given that to conserve water, instead of sowing paddy, other crops should be sowed with which the same income can be generated. The Chief Minister assured the farmer leaders that as the government has procured mustard and bajra, every single grain of maize grown in place of paddy would be purchased at the minimum support price. He also informed that a committee has been constituted under the chairmanship of Additional Chief Secretary, Agriculture and Farmers’ Welfare Department, Mr. Sanjeev Kaushal, for addressing issues related to farmers.
While interacting directly with about 16 farmer leaders through video conferencing, the Chief Minister appealed to motivate the farmers to make up their minds to reduce paddy sowing and take advantage of the schemes launched by the government. Farmer leaders applauded the Chief Minister for taking the initiative to save agriculture and water. The farmer will definitely become more prosperous if the farm and water is saved.
Giving the example of Gram Panchayat Pentawas Kalan in District Charkhi Dadri, the Chief Minister said that the Panchayat has passed a resolution not to sow paddy crop in their village, which itself is a big consideration for any Panchayat. He said that the dark zone, depleting level of groundwater and its excessive exploitation has become a challenge for us. He said that we have begun to solve these challenges for the sake of the future generations and to save water as well as electricity.
The Chief Minister appealed to the farmer leaders that the Panchayats who have given their panchayat land on contract should also appeal to the tenants to sow maize, arhar and other crops in place of paddy and contribute to make the campaign ‘Jal Hi Jeevan Hai’ successful. He said that farmers should understand that growing one kilogram of paddy consumes 3000 to 5000 liters of water and the department has started this scheme to reduce this consumption of water. In addition, some farmer leaders also said that migrant labourers would not be available due to the COVID-19 pandemic and therefore may face problems in growing paddy this time. In the meeting, the Chief Minister was also informed that instead of paddy, farmers of some districts also grow Dhaincha crop after harvesting the wheat crop which is used for fodder as well as green manure, which increases the fertility of the land. The Chief Minister was informed that 29000 quintal Dhaincha crop seeds have been made available by the department through Haryana Seed Corporation.
Expressing gratitude towards the Chief Minister for the extensive arrangements made to carry out the procurement of mustard and wheat in a phased manner, despite the nationwide lockdown period, the farmer leaders informed that till April 27, the farmers have been asked to register on ‘Meri Fasal Mera Boyra’, but they are facing problems in registration in Saral Kendras and mandis. On this, the Chief Minister directed the officers to ensure that youth running their startup should be immediately sent for registration in the villages along with laptop and dongle.
Similarly, farmer leaders also informed about the problem faced by the farmers for moisture checking of mustard in the mandis. Responding to this, the Chief Minister suggested that Panchayats should purchase moisture meter at their level so that the farmers can get the moisture checked before going to the mandis. He said that the officers should explore the possibilities for the same.
The farmer leaders with whom the Chief Minister interacted through video conferencing included, Ratan Singh Mann from Bhartiya Kisan Union, Sahib Singh, Surender Singh and Rajkumar from Karnal, Mahendra Singh Rasina from Kaithal, Harjinder Singh from Kurukshetra, Manoj Kumar and Ram Bhagat from Hisar, Suresh Kumar and Mrs. Sunita of Bhiwani, Mukesh Yadav from Faridabad, Kamlesh Nain from Sirsa, Mahendra Singh from Rohtak, Virender from Bharatiya Mazdoor Kisan Sangh Sonipat, Jasbir Malik from Panipat, Rampal Kandela from Jind and Vijay Mehta from Yamunanagar.
In the video conferencing, Principal Secretary to Chief Minister, Mr. Rajesh Khullar, Additional Principal Secretary to Chief Minister, Mr. V. Umashankar, Additional Chief Secretary of Agriculture and Farmers’ Welfare Department, Mr. Sanjeev Kaushal and Director General, Mr. Vijay Dahiya were also present.