Chandigarh, Feb. 8 -- The Punjab government will have to amp up its efforts to promote the direct seeded rice (DSR) technique in the upcoming kharif season as it fell terribly short of its target in 2023.

Against its target of bringing five lakh acres under DSR in the year gone by, the state government could manage only 1.7 lakh acres (38%). This is even less than what it managed in 2022, when 2.12 lakh acres were brought under this environmentally sustainable method of paddy cultivation.

For the 2024 kharif season, the state agriculture department has proposed to bring 7 lakh acres under the DSR method, for which the agriculture department will be launching awareness drives shortly, officials said.

According to director agriculture Ja...