India Today Editor-in-Chief Aroon Purie talks about the implications of the farmers’ agitation and its impact on India’s breadbasket state, in the December 21, 2020 edition of the India Today Magazine.
Declaring the entire state as a principal market yard can isolate Punjab since the Centre is the major buyer of the wheat and paddy produced in Punjab.
Stubble burning will begin in Punjab in just about a week from now. And it won't be too long till Delhi-NCR turns into a gas chamber yet again.
Farmers in three districts of Punjab have sown cotton instead of paddy for the first time in 20 years. This is a big achievement for the state.
With the non-availability of labour, farmers shifted to Direct Seeded Rice (DSR), that saves about 20 per cent of water used for agriculture.
Increasing soil fertility, avoiding stubble burning.
It's time we helped our farmers out of this morass.
The cash-strapped Amarinder Singh government is expected to spend close to Rs 8,000 crore on continuing the scheme.