November gone by, farmers in Punjab are yet to sow wheat on 8 lakh hectares out of total 35 lakh hectares which the state dedicates under the crop every year, according to official data.
Punjab completes bulk of its wheat sowing by November 20 every year, but dense smog this year prevented them from completing the sowing by the end of the month. Best sowing period is from November 1-15. Rampant paddy stubble burning in first 10 days of November was one of the major reasons of dense smog in the beginning of the month, which lasted till mid-November. First two weeks of November are considered best for wheat sowing.
Statistics from Punjab’s agriculture department show that wheat sowing has covered 27 lakh hectares by November-end. “Sowing was not stopped by demonetisation last year, though we did not have enough funds. But this year, unfavourable weather conditions did not let us complete sowing on time,” says farmer Avtar Singh from Nangal Shama village.
“I have completed sowing on 10 acres. Sowing on remaining five acres is will be completed in the coming week. But the delay would affect the yield drastically,” he says, adding that timely sowing gives a yield of 23-24 quintals/acre while a delayed sowing will give a yield of 17-18 quintals of wheat per acre.
Agriculture Development Officer in Pathankot, Dr Amrik Singh, said that farmers must stop the paddy stubble burning or else they will face huge losses in the wheat crop. “In our district, there were just 12 field fires, but smog had engulfed it too because of the rampant field fires in the state during the first 10 days of November, which also punished those who did not burn stubble,” said he.
Director of Punjab Agriculture Department, Dr JS Bains, said some areas always saw late sowing because farmers took green peas and potato crops after paddy harvesting, but it’s usually not more than one 3-4 per cent of the total area. He conceded late sowing always affected the yield.
