Indian government encouraging fruits, vegetables, maize to reduce stubble burning

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The Indian Government is encouraging the cultivation of high-value crops such as fruits, vegetables and maize to replace cereal crops as part of its plans to reduce stubble burning, Union Minister of State for Agriculture and Farmers’ Welfare Ramnath Thakur has said.

In a written reply in the Rajya Sabha on Friday to a question on the steps taken to promote high-value crop substitution for paddy in Punjab, Haryana, and western Uttar Pradesh to reduce stubble burning, he said: “One of the most promising alternatives to paddy is maize cultivation, which holds significant potential, particularly for bioethanol production. High-value crops such as fruits and vegetables also have the potential to replace cereal crops.”

The Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR) has promoted maize cultivation in Punjab and Haryana through various outreach programmes. Under the ‘Participatory Innovation Platform on Potential Yield Realization of Maize-Based Cropping Systems in Punjab and Haryana’ (2021-23), maize yields ranged from 57.33 quintals per hectare to 76 quintals per hectare in Punjab; and from 61.33 quintals per hectare to 77 quintals per hectare in Haryana. These findings highlight the potential yield optimization in maize-based systems across the two states, using best agronomic practices, he said.

The Department of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare is implementing Crop Diversification Programme (CDP) in the original Green Revolution states of Punjab, Haryana and Western Uttar Pradesh since 2013-14 to diversify paddy crop to alternative crops such as oilseeds, pulses, coarse cereals / nutri-cereals, cotton and agro-forestry, he said.

To a separate question, Thakur said as per the reports released by the Consortium for Research on Agroecosystem Monitoring and Modelling from Space (CREAMS) Laboratory, Division of Agricultural Physics of Indian Agricultural Research Institute, New Delhi, the paddy straw burning events in Punjab, Haryana and Uttar Pradesh were 42,962 between September 15 and November 30 of 2023. This has been reduced to 18,457 events during the same period of the current year, which indicates 57 per cent reduction in paddy straw burning over the last year, he said.

Meat exports up

To a query on the meat exports from India, Piyush Goyal, Union Minister of Commerce and Industry, said the country exported 13.13 lakh tonnes of meat valued $3831.58 million in 2023-24 against 11.91 lakh tonnes of meat valued $3274.72 million in 2022-23.

Asked whether the Government has taken note of cow-vigilantism or certain State legislations harming the meat export sector in India, the Minister said the export of beef, which includes meat and edible offal of cows, oxen and calves is prohibited as per the Foreign Trade Policy. The department is not in receipt of any State legislation impacting meat exports, Goyal said.

Cotton crop in Punjab

To a question on the decline in cotton crop in Punjab, Pabitra Margherita, Union Minister of State for Textiles, said area under cotton crop in Punjab declined during the last decade due to variability in rainfall patterns, prevalence of extreme temperature during the crop season, incidence of weeds, whitefly, pink bollworm, cotton leaf curl viral disease, and due to shift to other remunerative crops.

Cotton Corporation of India (CCI) protects the interest of farmers by procuring cotton at MSP (minimum support price) rates as and when market prices fall below MSP level. It procured 0.38 lakh bales of cotton valued ₹128 crore under MSP operations in Punjab during 2023-24.

Farmers were getting better prices over and above MSP rates in 2021-22 and 2022-23. Because of this, procurement under MSP was nil during these two years.

Oil palm planting rises

To a question on oil palm plantation in the country, Ramnath Thakur said the mega ‘Oil Palm Plantation Drive 2024’ was organised from July 15 to September 30. Around 25 lakh planting materials were distributed among 15,755 farmers to cover more than 17,000 hectares of area under oil palm cultivation in potential areas.

Oil palm plantation under government programme is promoted only in potential area having suitable agroclimatic conditions. As per ICAR-Indian Institute of Oil Palm Research, oil palm cultivation does not adversely affect the underground water availability and it requires less water compared to crops such as banana, sugarcane and rice, he said.

The Government is also promoting drip irrigation along with oil palm plantation by way of subsidy to ensure optimum utilisation of water. He said soil fertility is not affected as oil palm produces high biomass in form of leaves and empty fruit bunches, which enable soil to regain its fertility, he said.

Onion price support

To a separate question on the scheme to support onion farmers, Thakur said the Government implements Market Intervention Scheme (MIS) to ensure fair prices for farmers cultivating perishable horticultural crops, including onion. The MIS is undertaken upon request from State or Union Territory governments when market prices fall by at least 10 per cent compared to the average prices of the previous normal season, preventing farmers from having to sell their produce at a loss.

Under MIS for TOP (tomato, onion, potato) crops, the Government bears the transportation and storage expenses for the operations undertaken by Central nodal agencies such as NAFED and NCCF from producing states to consuming states which will not only ensure remunerative prices to farmers but also soften the prices of TOP crops for consumers in the market, he said.