Union Minister for Agriculture and Farmers’ Welfare and Rural Development Shivraj Singh Chouhan today targeted the Congress saying its “attempt to buy peace by giving Indus water to Pakistan proved costy for India”.
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“Our nasty neighbour Pakistan kept irrigating the crop of terrorism and unleashed terror on our motherland,” he said as he targeted first Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru over the Indus Waters Treaty.
The minister was visiting the state as part of the Viksit Krishi Sankalp Abhiyan. He engaged with farmers of Patiala to promote sustainable and progressive farming practices.
While congratulating PM Narendra Modi for suspending the Indus Water Treaty following the Pahalgam terror attack, Chouhan claimed that 80 per cent of the country’s water was flowing into Pakistan.
“Now, this water will be used for farming in Jammu & Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh, Punjab, Haryana and Rajasthan,” he said.
“I have gone through the parliamentary proceedings of the time when the Indus Water Treaty was signed. Even the parliamentarians of the Congress, particularly from Punjab and J&K, had strongly opposed it. And the then PM Nehru had stated that we are buying peace from Pakistan in lieu of water. While peace never prevailed, our state continues to reel under severe water crisis, but not anymore. Now, we will use the water for our needs,” said Chouhan.
He encouraged farmers to adopt the DSR method, citing its benefits in water conservation and reduced labour costs. He also urged them to refrain from excessive pesticide use.
“I’m not here for rhetoric,” he added. “I’m here to directly interact with farmers and understand the ground realities. Our focus should be to connect land and lab so that farmers benefit from real-time innovation. Policies should come from the field — not from officers in air-conditioned rooms,” Chouhan said, lauding the efforts of farmers and scientists for achieving record agricultural production.
Punjab Agriculture Minister Gurmeet Singh Khudian drew attention to the efforts of progressive farmers in the region. He highlighted one farmer in particular who has consistently adopted the DSR model and had not burnt paddy residue for over a decade.
Khudian raised concerns about the shortfall in the DAP supply, stating that while the requirement was around 90,000 metric tonnes, only 38,000 to 39,000 MT had been received so far.
On the issue of crop diversification, Khudian noted that while Rs 17,000 per acre in compensation was promised, farmers had so far received only Rs 10,000.
“We are setting our mother earth on fire by indulging in stubble burning,” Khudian said, urging the Union Minister to enhance compensation schemes to further discourage farm fires. He also noted that stubble burning incidents during the kharif season had decreased by 86 per cent.
Responding to the concerns, Chouhan said, “We are holding talks here and in Delhi to work out the modalities of compensating the farmers for stubble management.”
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