Panjab Farmer’s Water-Saving Paddy Technique, Saving Costs & Agriculture

A group of Panjab farmers led by Narinder Singh, from Ajjowal village, Hoshiarpur, is pioneering Zero Budget Natural Farming (ZBNF), challenging conventional high-input agricultural practices. Starting in 2011, well before the Center introduced ZBNF in the 2020 Union Budget, Narinder and his group of 15 farmers embraced sustainable methods, avoiding fertilizers and pesticides. Utilizing traditional desi rudi (homemade compost), vermicompost, and farm waste residue as fertilizers, they also implemented natural pest control by understanding pest life cycles, maintaining ecological balance. They avoid hybrid seeds allowing farmers to earn 20% more, and sometimes double, compared to chemical farming methods. Concurrently, Kahan Singh Pannu, a retired Indian Administrative Service officer, demonstrated an innovative farming technique in Panjab by growing paddy using only 25% of the water required. After retiring in Sep 2020, Pannu began managing 17 acres of farmland in Jai Nagar village, Patiala, where he implemented Seeding of Rice on Beds (SRB). This technique involves planting paddy on raised beds without puddling, significantly reducing water usage. Pannu collaborated with National Agricultural Implements in Ludhiana to develop a machine costing approximately USD 12K that creates beds and plants seeds, capable of covering 7-8 acres daily. The SRB method uses 3.5 kg of seeds per acre compared to 8 kg in traditional sowing and saves farmers around USD 600 on labor and USD 240 on puddling per acre. Other farmers across 12 locations using SRB also achieved higher yields comparable to conventional methods. Pannu emphasized that Panjab’s groundwater could deplete to a depth of 1,000 feet within 15 years due to paddy cultivation, which consumes about 5,000 liters of water per kilogram of rice.