Pilot to replace paddy with water-saving kharif maize ‘too little, too late': experts

Indian Express

a day ago

A pilot project launched by the Punjab government to encourage farmers in six districts to shift from water-intensive paddy to kharif maize to address groundwater depletion and promote crop diversification has drawn flak from experts.
Criticising the initiative, experts say the pilot covers too limited an area compared to the vast expanse under paddy cultivation in the state.
They said the government should have aimed for at least 50,000 hectares for the pilot project.
Additionally, they pointed out the project should have been launched in the first year of the AAP government's tenure, considering crop diversification is neither a new concept for Punjab nor any party in power.
The six districts under the initiative are Jalandhar, Kapurthala, Bathinda, Sangrur, Pathankot and Gurdaspur.
Under this scheme, farmers who divert their land from paddy to kharif maize will get an incentive of Rs 17,500 per hectare (approximately Rs 7,08,5 per acre) as the government aims to divert around 12,000 hectares (29,640 acres) under paddy to maize cultivation in the current kharif season.
Kharif maize, sown during the monsoon season, alongside paddy, relies primarily on rainfall and needs 3-5 times irrigation compared to 22-30 cycles by paddy.
Experts term this shift 'critical' as Punjab's groundwater resources have been under relentless stress due to decades of intensive paddy farming but are sceptical about the scale and timing of the initiative.
'This pilot is not even a baby step,' said a senior agricultural scientist at Punjab Agricultural University (PAU), Ludhiana. 'With over 32 lakh hectares under rice cultivation in Punjab, diversifying just 12,000 hectares is negligible. The state should have aimed to cover at least 50,000 hectares and included, besides six districts, all other districts where maize is grown, such as Hoshiarpur, Roopnagar, SAS Nagar (Mohali), Ludhiana, Fatehgarh Sahib, Amritsar and Patiala.'
Maize is widely used in animal feed, starch production, ethanol, silage (a fermented feed for livestock) and food products like cornflakes and baby corn.
Kharif maize has the potential to meet Punjab's demand. Over 90 per cent of corn cereal is currently imported to Punjab from other states.
Experts emphasise that establishing ethanol production units in Punjab is crucial to boosting local maize consumption. With the government now permitting ethanol blending with vehicle fuel, maize presents significant potential as a future-oriented crop, both economically and environmentally, enhancing farmers' financial conditions.
Punjab once had a thriving maize cultivation, covering 5.77 lakh hectares in 1975-76, but the area steadily declined due to the paddy dominance and was reduced to just around 80,000 hectares by 2024-25.
Experts point out that though maize is grown in districts like Hoshiarpur, Roopnagar, Ludhiana and Patiala, its growth remained stagnant.
The area under cultivation is between 1.05 and 1.3 lakh hectares over the past two decades, with a worrying dip to just 80,000 hectares last year and around 95,000 hectares in 2023-24.
Incentives and infra gaps
Dr Hanuman Sahay Jat, Director of Indian Institute of Maize Research (IIMR), PAU, highlighted the need for broader policy support. 'Farmers will go for kharif maize if they get more or on par with the yield per acre of paddy. Kharif maize has high-yielding hybrid seeds, but unless Punjab starts developing and distributing its own high-quality seeds, farmers will be dependent on costly private suppliers from other states,' he said.
Dr Jat also emphasised the urgent need for maize processing infrastructure, particularly grain dryers, and a reliable Minimum Support Price (MSP) mechanism to protect farmers against market volatility.
Despite the state's high productivity—15 to 20 per cent above the national average — Punjab doesn't feature among the top 10 maize-producing states in the country.
A group of experts argue that the continued provision of free electricity for paddy irrigation is a key barrier to diversification. 'If the government withdraws free power for tubewells, farmers will shift to alternative crops like maize within a year,' said a senior scientist at PAU.
'Although the Punjab government's pilot project acknowledges the urgent need for crop diversification, it falls short in ambition and scale. Without a long-term and comprehensive strategy, Punjab's dream of sustainable agriculture may continue to remain just that— a dream,' said a senior scientist at PAU.
As the sowing window for kharif maize continues through June, Punjab records 17,000 hectares under it.