Farmers Urge Punjab Government to Lift Ban on Hybrid Paddy in Waterlogged Areas

• May 1, 2025

With wheat harvesting largely completed, farmers across Punjab's waterlogged regions are now turning their focus to the upcoming kharif season — and demanding the state government allow the cultivation of hybrid paddy varieties. The appeal comes amid growing concern that traditional paddy types are failing in areas plagued by excessive water retention.

The state government has banned hybrid paddy cultivation, citing concerns over depleting groundwater levels and poor milling recovery rates. However, farmers argue that for them, hybrid paddy remains the only practical and viable option.

A delegation of farmers under the banner of the Samyukta Kisan Morcha (SKM) recently met Muktsar Deputy Commissioner Abhijeet Kaplish to convey their distress. “Hybrid paddy is our only viable crop now, especially since cotton is no longer an option and other alternatives either don’t exist or don’t work,” they told the official.

Gobind Singh, a farmer from Kotli Dewan village, recalled past failures with traditional paddy: “The seedlings dried up. It was heartbreaking. Hybrid varieties have survived where others didn’t. Without them, we are staring at debt and despair.”

Farmers also criticized the government for not ensuring quality cotton seeds, which they say had forced them to turn to paddy in the first place. “Now, with hybrid paddy banned and most of the PR varieties unsuitable for our land, we are left with no lifeline,” said Puran Singh Vattu, president of Bharti Kisan Union (Ekta Dakonda), Muktsar.

The farmers are demanding that the state government conduct soil and water tests in waterlogged zones and consider granting exemptions to the hybrid paddy ban in those specific areas.

“We are not demanding luxuries. We just want to grow the one crop that can keep us afloat,” said Jarnail Singh Roranwala, a farmer leader. “Time is running out — the sowing season is here. Denying us this is like strangling someone already in debt.”

Warning of future action, the farmers have announced plans for region-wide protests if the government does not revoke the ban soon.

According to the state’s latest agricultural notification, transplanting of paddy seedlings will begin from June 1 in Muktsar, Faridkot, Ferozepur, Bathinda, and Fazilka. However, Direct Seeding of Rice (DSR) will be permitted across the state starting May 15.