The Punjab government’s concerted efforts towards crop diversification have yielded promising results, with a 12.58% increase in the basmati cultivation area during the ongoing kharif season, as reported by Agriculture and Farmers Welfare Minister Gurmeet Singh Khudian on Sunday.
The cultivation of long-grain rice has expanded to cover 6.71 lakh hectares, a significant surge from the 5.96 lakh hectares recorded in the previous kharif season.
Khudian provided district-wise statistics, highlighting Amritsar as the frontrunner with 1.46 lakh hectares dedicated to aromatic basmati rice. Other leading districts include Muktsar (1.10 lakh hectares), Fazilka (84.9 thousand hectares), Tarn Taran (72.5 thousand hectares), and Sangrur (49.8 thousand hectares).
Additionally, the state has witnessed a substantial 46.5% growth in the area under Direct Seeding of Rice (DSR) compared to the previous year. The adoption of water-saving DSR methods has led to an increase from 1.72 lakh acres in the Kharif season of 2023 to over 2.52 lakh acres this year.
To enhance the export quality of this aromatic crop to world-class standards, Punjab has implemented a ban on ten pesticides commonly used in basmati cultivation.
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