Explained: How Punjab can achieve crop diversification
The Indian Express December 16, 2020 By Harish Damodaran Amidst the ongoing farmers’ protests are also questions that are being raised on the sustainability of paddy-wheat cultivation, especially in Punjab. How much of these two cereals should India’s granary state grow and what are the alternative cropping options available to its farmers? What is the extent of paddy-wheat monoculture in Punjab? Punjab’s gross cropped area in 2018-19 was estimated at 78.30 lakh hectares (lh). Out of that, 35.20 lh was sown under wheat and another 31.03 lh under paddy, adding up to 84.6% of the total area planted to all crops. That ratio was just over 32% in 1960-61 and 47.4% in 1970-71. Table 1 shows that the real acreage share increase has taken place in paddy (from below 7% in 1970-71 to almost 40% in 2018-19) than for wheat. The latter had crossed 40% by 1970-71, when Punjab farmers were already planting the new Green Revolution wheat varieties such as Kalyan Sona and ...