The Supreme Court on Tuesday said the Centre should “seriously consider” the Punjab government’s suggestion to phase out paddy cultivation in the State and incentivise farmers to switch over to traditional crops such as millets by giving them minimum support price (MSP) in order to check rampant burning of paddy stubble and to revive a drastically low water table in the State.
A Bench of Justices Sanjay Kishan Kaul and Sudhanshu Dhulia said the Punjab cannot go from granary to a virtual desert.
“Punjab is seeing a scenario where the growth of paddy is causing the water table to decline drastically. A number of wells have gone beyond redemption. Paddy is not even consumed in Punjab. It is his (Advocate-General of Punjab) suggestion, that we believe correctly so, that paddy cultivation must be phased out and substituted with other crops. The Centre should explore the aspect of giving MSP for alternative crops,” the Supreme Court said in its order.
