The Chief Minister's Office of Haryana announced on Friday, 12 June 2026 that the state government has extended its Direct Seeded Rice (DSR) scheme to all districts for Kharif 2026, with the sole exception of Mahendragarh. The move aims to promote groundwater conservation, reduce input costs, and improve paddy yields across the state. The official post stated: 'धान की सीधी बिजाई योजना को सभी जिलों में लागू किया गया है' ('The direct seeded rice scheme has been implemented across all districts'), underscoring the government's intent to scale a practice that had previously been piloted only in select areas.

Context

Direct Seeded Rice, or DSR, involves sowing paddy seeds directly into the field rather than first raising seedlings in a nursery and then transplanting them. This technique significantly reduces the volume of water required during the critical early growth phase. Haryana first began promoting DSR through limited incentive pilots during 2021–22, when declining groundwater levels in the state's paddy-growing belts triggered policy concern. The state's decision to expand the programme to nearly all districts for the upcoming Kharif season marks a decisive shift from pilot to mainstream policy.

Policy Backdrop

Haryana and neighbouring Punjab sit at the heart of India's rice-wheat rotation belt and together account for a substantial share of the country's food-grain procurement. However, decades of intensive paddy cultivation have accelerated groundwater depletion across the Indo-Gangetic plains, prompting successive state governments to incentivise water-efficient alternatives. Under the 2026 scheme, eligible farmers who adopt direct seeding will receive a subsidy of ₹4,500 per acre following physical field verification. Farmers who purchase DSR machinery will additionally be eligible for a grant equivalent to 50 per cent of the machine's cost, subject to a ceiling of ₹40,000 per machine — whichever amount is lower. Both incentives are designed to lower the financial barrier to adoption while reducing dependence on flood-irrigation methods.

Stakeholders and Impact

The primary beneficiaries are paddy farmers across Haryana's 21 participating districts. For smallholders, the per-acre cash incentive can offset a meaningful portion of seasonal input expenditure, while the machinery subsidy targets medium-scale operators who can invest in mechanised sowing equipment. Farm machinery suppliers are also expected to see increased demand as farmers seek to qualify for the equipment grant. To access either subsidy, registration on the #MeriFasalMeraByora portal is mandatory. The portal is the state government's unified platform for crop-related registrations, and linking subsidy disbursal to it is intended to improve targeting, reduce duplication, and create a verifiable digital record of participating fields. The exclusion of Mahendragarh district from the scheme has not been officially explained in the announcement. Mahendragarh is located in the semi-arid southern part of Haryana and is not a primary paddy-growing district, which may account for its omission.

What's Next

Registration activity on the MeriFasalMeraByora portal in the weeks ahead will be a key indicator of farmer uptake. State agriculture officials are expected to conduct physical verification of sown fields before subsidy amounts are disbursed. If the Kharif 2026 rollout demonstrates measurable water savings and yield stability, it could strengthen the case for making DSR a permanent, state-wide fixture — and potentially inform similar policy decisions in other groundwater-stressed states across northern India.