Chandigarh, October 23:- Haryana Agriculture and Farmers’ Welfare Minister Shyam Singh Rana has described crop diversification and water conservation as extremely important strategies for preventing the declining groundwater level in the state, maintaining soil fertility and promoting climate-resilient agriculture.
He said that shifting from continuous cultivation of water-intensive monocrops such as paddy and sugarcane to crops requiring less water is essential for the long-term sustainability of agriculture in water-scarce areas. The Haryana government’s ‘Mera Pani Meri Virasat’ scheme is a unique initiative aimed at preventing the excessive use of water, a precious and costly natural resource. Under the scheme, financial assistance is provided to farmers who cultivate alternative crops instead of paddy.
The Agriculture Minister said that at the launch of the scheme, farmers were given financial assistance of Rs. 7,000 per acre for growing alternative crops instead of paddy. At present, if a farmer has been cultivating paddy for the past four years and now switches to other crops—such as cereals and maize, kharif pulses (moong, arhar/tur, urad and moth), kharif oilseeds (groundnut, sesame and castor), fibre crops (cotton), kharif vegetables (onion), horticultural crops, fodder crops and agroforestry (eucalyptus and safeda)—or even leaves the land fallow, the farmer is being provided a benefit of Rs. 8,000 per acre.
He clarified that farmers who were eligible under the scheme last year are also entitled to receive benefits this year.
Announcing the current Kharif 2026 season, Shyam Singh Rana said that, along with an incentive of Rs. 8,000 per acre, the government would also provide an additional bonus of Rs. 2,000 per acre to farmers cultivating pulses, oilseeds and cotton. The entire subsidy and bonus amount will be transferred directly to farmers’ bank accounts in a single instalment through Direct Benefit Transfer (DBT), following a transparent process.
He appealed to farmers across the state to participate in this major water conservation campaign and adopt crop diversification to increase their income while protecting water and land resources for future generations
