The Farmers of that state doing unique cultivation of Mustard that makes a yield & income double
The Farmers of that state doing unique cultivation of Mustard that makes a yield & income double
CHANDIGARH:
Gleaming ‘sarson ke khet’ (mustard fields), reminiscent of movies like DDLJ,
offered a perfect selfie moment to those going to Punjab’s countryside for
electioneering over the last weeks. The scenery was spread across Malwa belt,
and there was reason for it too: buoyed by encouraging returns in the last few
seasons, farmers sowed mustard crop on a larger area this time. Punjab director
of agriculture Gurvinder Singh said the area under mustard-rapeseed had
increased steadily from 32,000 hectares in 2019-20 to 44,000 hectares in 2020-21 to 54,000
hectares this season (2021-22). “Under the diversification plan, the state government had
launched a campaign to project mustard as an alternative to wheat. Mustard has caught up
in Malwa region, and areas of Hoshiarpur in Doaba and Gurdaspur in Majha. We
distributed free mustard seeds at several places. The government of India had also
recommended seed varieties most suited for the state. Areas under oil seeds are likely to
grow further in the coming years,” he said. Mustard farming got an impetus in recent years
with private players offering around Rs 5,000, while the minimum support price (MSP) for
the 2021-22 rabi marketing season (RMS) is Rs 4,650. Experts also see it as a viable option
as only 1kg seed is required on one acre and it was available at Rs 160 per kg only at PAU.
“In coming seasons, farmers in the state are expected to get good returns for maize and
mustard crops,” added farm director. Kewaldeep Singh, a farmer in Sangrur, said he opted
for mustard crop along with sugarcane as it was less labour intensive than wheat and the
market trend for oil seeds had been encouraging. “There is a lot of potential in mustard and
farmers reaped Rs 40,000 to Rs 45,000 per acre last year. The state government should do
more to promote it by offering incentives,” he said. Randhir Bajwa, another farmer in the
adjoining area of Dhuri, said it cost him around Rs 5,200 to sow mustard on an acre and he
was hopeful that he would get a good price in the market this season too. The area under
other oilseeds such as groundnuts, sunflower and sesamum too has gone up in the last
couple of years. As per a report of the Punjab agriculture department, area under oil seeds
was only 0.5% of the total cropped area in 2020-21, with 86.6% under cereals and 0.1%
under pulses. But the area under the crop has shrunk gradually over the decades. In 1974-75,
mustard was sown over 1.8 lakh hectares. “There was a time when mustard used to be
intercropped along with wheat, but now it is not recommended by the Punjab Agricultural
University (PAU),” said the director.
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