TAD NewsDesk, New Delhi: With farmers agitating in Delhi borders, Punjab has yet managed to have a rise of 4% in wheat planting. Officials are claiming that farmers are focused on agriculture and not agitation.
The area under wheat has gone up to 3.18 million hectares, over 100,000 hectares more than last year, while the area under oilseeds and pulses is almost the same as last year. Overall acreage across the county is also up by 4% from last year at 43.6 million hectares.
An agriculture department official said,
“Intense farm activities in Punjab gives a feeling that not all farmers are involved in agitation. There has been shortage of urea and other farm inputs due to disruption in rail services during agitation, but the area under wheat, which is the main winter crop, has gone up significantly.”
He added that the farmers’ agitation has taken a more political upfront than a peasant protest rooted with main agriculture.
“Farmers organisations, which have been keeping silent for a decade, have just woken up. The ordinance was in place since June but there was hardly any opposition. The protest started only when Congress and other opposition parties fanned it after these laws were passed by the Parliament in September this year,” he said.
Farmers have been agitating in the Delhi borders since November 25 and are continuing the agitation.
Source: The Economic Times
