Ludhiana, June 9 -- To protect groundwater and reduce environmental pollution, the Punjab government has imposed a ban on the sale and sowing of long-duration paddy varieties such as Pusa 44 and certain hybrid seeds. The decision follows a recommendation from Punjab Agricultural University (PAU), Ludhiana, and aims to curb the growing water crisis and air pollution caused by stubble burning.

Chief agriculture officer of Ludhiana, Gurdeep Singh, said that these long-duration paddy varieties require more water and often face harvesting delays due to changing weather conditions. This not only creates problems at the time of marketing the crop but also affects the timely sowing of wheat. As a result, many farmers are forced to burn stubble t...