(Ranjit Singh Ghuman[1], G.S. Romana[2])

 

The comparative economic analysis makes it amply clear that at the given state of the art, the level of  yield and minimum support price, there is no alternative crop combination which could replace the paddy-wheat and cotton-wheat cropping system in the South-West Punjab. As regards organically cultivated crops, the per hectare return over variable cost, is much lower than the inorganically cultivated crops.

            Nevertheless, the alternative crops have an edge, in terms of resource-use saving (water, fertilizer and pesticides), over paddy, wheat and cotton. However, the savings in terms of resources, both by organic and alternative inorganic crops do not out-weigh the per hectare return from paddy, wheat and cotton. 

            The alternative crops are, however, more eco-friendly than the paddy, wheat and cotton. As such they are ecologically more sustainable than the existing cropping system. The savings of precious resources by the alternative crops over the existing cropping system, results in lowering down the cost benefit ratio of the existing cropping system. The cost of additional resources used by the existing cropping system (or the savings in terms of resources by the alternative crops) comes out to be approximately Rs. 1530 crore and Rs. 3832 crore in the South-West Punjab and the whole of Punjab, respectively.   

            In view of the excessive use of scarce resources like water and ever-increasing doses of other inputs there is an urgent need to develop alternative cropping system which could save Punjab from turning into a dark zone. That would require strengthening of R & D and viable minimum support price for the alternative crops. The alternative cropping system must give an assured per hectare net return, at least equal to the return from the existing cropping system (paddy-wheat and cotton-wheat), if not more than that. In the absence of which the farmers of Punjab would not shift to any other cropping system. Economic viability and ecological sustainability are, thus, the pre-requisite to affect any meaningful shift in the existing cropping system in Punjab.

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