Haryana reaps happy harvest

CHANDIGARH: After mostly bad news coming from the farm sector across the country — whether it's the Vidarbha suicides, Bt cotton row or falling returns in Punjab's fields — Haryana has something to cheer about. New initiatives have overcome the old constraints, reversing the negative trend of falling wheat production and productivity for the past six years in the state.
Haryana, the second biggest contributor to the Central pool, has crossed the 100 lakh metric tonne mark this year. Data available with the state agriculture department shows a declining trend in both production and productivity levels per hectare since 1999-2000.
Two primary factors that kept the production levels low over the years were the steady rise in temperatures in February and March and farmers not strictly adhering to good farming practices.