Sangrur farmers turn to diversification, move beyond traditional wheat-paddy cycle
Jagdeep Singh (50) from Kanoi village has diversified his crops on his 16 acres. While still dedicating 12 acres to Basmati or PR 126 paddy in another farm, he is cultivating green gram (moong), mustard, black chickpeas, and sugarcane. His most notable venture is sugar-free wheat, which was sold at ₹7,000 per quintal. 'We earn more than traditional crops wheat and paddy,' Jagdeep said.
Jagdeep encourages other farmers to cease stubble burning and manage it with a happy seeder. His methods have inspired about 40% of the people of Kanoi village to cease stubble burning.
Another example is Jasvir Singh (51) from Cheema village. Managing 45 acres, Jasvir began experimenting with different crops three years ago. Sugarcane also earned him profit, yielding ₹4 to ₹5 lakh per acre, significantly more than the ₹1 to 1.5 lakh offered by wheat and paddy. His diversified area includes garlic, green peas, and sugarcane, with high-quality jaggery selling for ₹1,200 per quintal. He also cultivates white and black chickpeas, green chilli, and maize. Jasvir has ventured into cultivating dragon fruit, a rarity in the district, and a variety of fruit trees like mango, guava, and pomegranate. He is also testing flaxseeds, ginger, and carom seeds. While 25 acres are still allocated to government-recommended paddy varieties like PR126, Jasvir refrains from stubble burning, instead cultivating potatoes after the paddy harvest, advocating for crop rotation for higher profits and environmental protection.
Adding to the list of progressive farmers is Ranbir Singh (63), a retired Lieutenant Commander in the Navy from Balwar Khurd village. Singh now encourages other farmers to diversify. On his 63 acres, he initially dedicated 25 acres to sugarcane and maize. However, with the closure of a mill in Dhuri, he has diversified 15 acres into other crops now, while the remaining acres are dedicated to wheat and paddy.
'I don't think paddy is a sustainable crop now, I'm trying to move out of it, I'm experimenting with maize,' he states.
Ranbir also does not burn stubble and uses a happy seeder.
Agriculture development officer Narinderpal Singh said that a pilot project is being done to encourage farmers to cultivate kharif maize, a shift from traditional paddy sowing. He added that farmers are encouraged to form rural entrepreneurship and they are provided machines on subsidy under crop residue management scheme to start the business of generating straw bales.
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