By Amit KumarKARNAL: Defying the government orders, some farmers in Karnal district in Haryana have started sowing the water-guzzling crop through direct seeding (DSR) method around two and half months before the fixed date (May 15). The administration swung into action and destroyed three acres of the sown crop and served notices to two farmers for violation of the Soil Water Conservation Act, 2009.As per the information, a team — led by sub divisional officer, Karnal agriculture department, Dinesh Sharma — visited several villages, including Kalvehri, Kunjpura, Nalvi Khurd, Nasirpur and Mainmati.The team found three acres of paddy crop sown through DSR method at Nalvi Khurd village. Following this, it got the paddy destroyed and also served the notices to the concerned farmers.SDO Dinesh Sharma said that the government has fixed May 15 for sowing paddy nursery and sowing paddy crop through DSR method and June 15 for paddy transplantation. But these farmers sowed the paddy earlier in violation of the Soil Water Conservation Act 2009.He said that as per the Act, notices have been served to them and they have been directed to follow the government guideline, otherwise strict action will be taken against them.As per the research conducted by scientists of the Central Soil Salinity Research Institute (CSSRI), Karnal (Haryana) in 2020, paddy crop alone consumes about 50% of the total irrigation water.On the other hand, due to high water extraction and less recharge, the groundwater level in this paddy-growing district (Karnal) of Haryana has declined 12.86 metres (fell from 8.57m in 2000 to 21.43m in 2021) in the two decades between 2000 and 2021, as per the data of the ground water cell of the irrigation department in Karnal. Despite this, people are violating the government orders.
Source: https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/gurgaon/defying-govt-orders-karnal-farmers-begin-paddy-sowing-ahead-of-schedule-served-notices/articleshow/98387608.cms