Punjab Preservation of Subsoil Water Act 2009
Topic: Land Use, Farming Systems and Cropping Seasons in India · NCERT: Beyond NCERT
Meaning
This is a Punjab law from 2009, and Haryana has a similar Act. It bans farmers from transplanting paddy before a notified date in mid-June. Before this, farmers flooded their paddy fields in the hot, dry weeks before the monsoon by pumping groundwater. Later transplanting lets the crop use monsoon rain instead, which slows the fall in groundwater. This matters because about 80% of Punjab's area has overexploited groundwater.
Example
In Punjab and Haryana, the later sowing date pushes the paddy harvest later. That leaves only a short gap before wheat must be sown. Many farmers then burn the leftover straw to clear their fields quickly, so the Act has indirectly added to stubble burning.
Don't confuse with
- Direct-seeded rice: a way of sowing paddy seed straight into the field instead of transplanting seedlings. The Act does not change how paddy is planted, only when.
Related concepts
- Rice-wheat cropping system
- NPK ratio imbalance
- Direct seeded rice
- Zero tillage
- System of Rice Intensification
- Crop diversification
- Organic farming
- Sikkim organic state
- Natural farming
- Paramparagat Krishi Vikas Yojana