Punjab bans Pusa-44 variety of paddy, no purchase from next year
Punjab News: In view of the declining ground water level and increasing pollution due to stubble burning in Punjab, the government has banned the Pusa-44 variety of paddy. This variety of paddy, which consumes more water and produces relatively 20 percent more stubble, will not be sown from next season. Though Pusa-44 is a high-yielding variety, the government will not procure it from next year for better climate.
Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann appealed to the farmers to stop sowing Pusa-44 and said that this water-intensive variety would have taken more time to prepare and would have also produced a lot of stubble.