The economy of Punjab is mainly agriculture based. Farmers of Punjab mainly cultivate wheat and paddy. Under the leadership of Chief Minister Bhagwant Singh Mann, the Punjab government is working on many schemes for the welfare of farmers. The policies of the Mann government have brought positive changes in the lives of farmers in Punjab. The government is preparing to upgrade the farmers through crop diversification scheme by bringing them out of paddy and wheat cultivation. The objective of crop diversification is to replace water-intensive cropping patterns with less water-intensive crops depending on the agro-climatic conditions. Water availability is being seen as a favorable strategy to reduce agricultural water challenges in Punjab.
What is crop diversification?
The government is encouraging hardworking farmers in Punjab to do crop diversification. For this, the Mann government has proposed a budget of Rs 575 crore in the current financial year. This amount will be spent on various schemes related to crop diversification.
Under the scheme, Punjab alternative farming is being promoted. This will increase the prosperity of farmers. The government is working on many schemes to improve the health of the soil and the falling water level.
'Mission Unnat Kisan' has been started with the aim of providing technical information to farmers for cotton cultivation in Punjab. Under this, about 87,000 farmers of the state have been given 33 percent subsidy on cotton seeds.
Subsidy for alternative farming
Farmers cultivating alternative crops are being given an incentive amount of Rs 17,500 per hectare. Under this scheme, any farmer of Punjab can avail the benefit of crop diversification scheme on a maximum area of ​​five hectares.
The incentive amount will be deposited by the government directly into the bank accounts of the beneficiary farmers in two equal installments. The first installment will be transferred after digital crop survey and verification through Agriculture Mapper app and the second installment will be transferred immediately after harvesting.
Value addition to crops
The government in Punjab believes that without value addition, improvement in agriculture through crop diversification will not yield the desired results. Therefore, Rs 50 crore has already been provided to Pagrexco to start the project in the current year.
The government, which is working diligently for the prosperity of farmers, has made a provision of Rs 13,784 crore for agriculture and allied sectors in the current financial year. Due to the policies of the government, the progress of farming and farmers is increasing in Punjab.
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