To encourage the farmers in Kapurthala district towards direct sowing of paddy, the Deputy Commissioner Deepti Uppal personally visited the fields and inspected the direct sowing of paddy.Accompanied by the SDM Mr. Virender Pal Singh Bajwa, Chief Agriculture Officer Dr. Sushil Kumar, she reached the fields of farmers Davinder Singh and Resham Singh at village Karal Nawan Abad. These farmers have sown paddy directly in their 10 acres of land like last year.Deputy Commissioner spoke to the farmers about the benefits of direct sowing, difficulties in sowing and technical guidance on its sowing.She said that last year direct sowing of paddy was done in 27000 acres of land in the district under which direct sowing was done in about 50% of the area in Sultanpur block. This time the target has been set at 35,000 acres, for which the Agriculture Department is reaching out to the farmers by special teams.Apart from this on the instructions of the Deputy Commissioner the SDMs also visited the demonstration plants of direct sowing at Phagwara, Sultanpur, Bhulath.On this occasion Chief Agriculture Officer Dr. Mr. Sushil Kumar said that Punjab government has fixed June 1 to 15 as the auspicious time for direct sowing of paddy.In addition to this, direct sowing is also financially beneficial for the farmers due to shortage of labor in cobid times as it saves Rs. 3500 to 4000 per acre besides saving 10 to 15% of water.Sharing his experience, farmer Davinder Singh said that last year's direct sowing had not only reduced the cost of sowing but also increased the yield of paddy.A booklet was also launched by the Deputy Commissioner to acquaint the farmers about the techniques and benefits of direct sowing of paddy and the use of fertilizers by the Agriculture and Farmers Welfare Department.0n this occasion Agriculture Officer Dr. Ashwani, Dr. HPS Bharot, Dr. Dr. Balkar Singh, ADO Vishal Kausal and other officials and farmers were present.