DSR technique: Haryana govt yet to pay ₹5k per acre incentive promised in 2019
The Haryana government collectively owes 1,685 farmers in the three major paddy-growing districts of Kaithal, Karnal and Kurukshetra around ₹2 crore
KARNAL The Haryana government has announced a cash incentive to encourage farmers to adopt direct seeding of rice as opposed to transplanting seedlings from the nursery. However, farmers who had opted for this method in 2019 are still waiting for the ₹5,000 per acre incentive promised by the government.
The government collectively owes 1,685 farmers in the three major paddy-growing districts of Kaithal, Karnal and Kurukshetra around ₹2 crore, as per reports. Officials of the state agriculture department said the delay in disbursement of incentives has discouraged farmers from opting for this method, which consumes 50% less water as compared to the traditional method of paddy cultivation.
With the technique receiving a tepid response from farmers, the government had announced an incentive of ₹5,000 on demonstration plots of around 30,000 acres in eight districts under the Rashtriya Krishi Vikas Yojana. Applications of interested farmers had been invited online.
As per data obtained from the state agriculture department, the state owes ₹1.12 crore to 934 farmers, of which 104 are women, for opting for the DSR technique over 934 acres in Kaithal; ₹47.67 lakh is owed to 504 farmers in Karnal, while 234 farmers who grew paddy over 736 acres with this technique are owed ₹36.80 lakh.
Officials monitoring the project said payments had not been disbursed amid reports of fake registrations. Several farmers applied for the scheme but did not opt for it. District-level officials have submitted their reports to the head office after the ground-level physical verification but the file was stuck as top-level officials say there are some discrepancies in their field survey.
Haryana Agriculture Department additional director Surinder Dahiya said disbursement of incentives was delayed as there were some internal issues in the field survey, which has been conveyed to district-level officers.
This year, the Haryana government has announced a cash incentive of ₹ 5,000 per acre to farmers of eight districts opting for DSR technique. A target of 20,000 acres, including 4,000 acre in Kaithal; 3,000 acre each in Karnal and Kurukshetra and 2,000 acre each in Sonepat, Panipat, Jind, Ambala and Yamunanagar has been set.