Availability of Green Fodder in Various Zones of Punjab State

The present study covers three districts across three agro-climatic zones of Punjab state viz. Sub mountainous zone, Central zone and South Western zone for estimating the availability, requirement, and deficit of green fodder in the state. It has been observed that fodder area in the state is increasing over time. It was 7.74 lakh ha during 2000–01 (9.75 percent of gross cropped area), and 8.85 lakh ha (11.24 percent of gross cropped area) during 2015–16. During 2015–16, the area under fodder crops has further increased to 8.95 lakh ha. Similarly, production of fodder crops has increased from 44.93 million tonnes during 2000–01 to 57.48 million tonnes during 2016–17. The green fodder deficiency in Punjab state was estimated to be 22.99 million tonnes which were 28.57 percent of the total green fodder requirement. In a zone wise analysis, the highest deficiency was in Central zone (27.96 percent) followed by South Western zone with 7.59 million tonnes (38.49 percent) and Sub Mountainous zone with 1.34 million tonnes (12.80 percent). The green fodder production can be substantially enhanced either by increasing the fodder area or improving the yield levels. The more emphasis should be on improving the yield levels as area available for cultivation has almost stagnated; rather it has started declining over the years.