50% TO 80% SUBSIDY BONANZA TO FARMERS & GROUPS INCLUDING SOCIETIES ON PURCHASE OF CRM MACHINES
Chandigarh, December 28: Chief Minister Bhagwant Singh Mann aims to make the agricultural sector more prosperous. His goal is to increase the income of the hardworking farmers of the state. The Punjab Government has launched various path-breaking initiatives. The Punjab Government boosts farmers with innovative agricultural initiatives. These include the highest rate of sugarcane. There is also a subsidy on hybrid maize seeds. They also offer financial assistance for Direct Seeding of Rice (DSR) and free electricity to farmers for agri-pumps. Additionally, they encourage farmers to adopt crop diversification.
State Offers Rs.401/Quintal for Sugarcane
Highlighting the achievements of the Agriculture department, Punjab Agriculture and Farmers Welfare Minister S. Gurmeet Singh Khudian informed that the state has maintained the lead across the country. The state is paying the highest price of Rs.401 per quintal for Sugarcane.
Punjab Government has recently increased the state-agreed price (SAP) of sugarcane by Rs.10. This hike raises the rate to Rs 401 per quintal for the 2024-25 crushing season. Payment of cooperative sugar mills has been cleared by Punjab Govt for the crushing year 2023-24. These steps lead to increases the area of sugarcane by 5000 hectares during 2024-25.
Agricultural Initiatives : Punjab Government providing financial assistance of Rs. 1500/- per acre.
He further informed that the Punjab Government has been providing financial assistance of Rs. 1500/- per acre. The government supports farmers who adopt the Direct Seeding of Rice (DSR) technique.The aim is to arrest the depleting ground-water. This initiative of the government has received a good response from the farmers. During Kharif season-2024, a total of 2.53 lakh acres area cultivated under DSR as compared to 1.70 lakh acres during kharif season-2023 which is 48.8% more than the last year. The Agriculture department had provided Rs. 20.05 crore financial assistance to 17,112 farmers during 2023.
Agricultural Initiatives : Punjab Boosts Basmati Exports, Continues Free Power for Farmers
The Agriculture Minister said that the Punjab Government has continued free electricity facility to the farmers for their tubewells. Rs.9331 crore have been allocated for this purpose during 2024-25.
Gurmeet Singh Khudian said that the state government’s crop diversification campaign got a major push. Punjab witnessed at least a 14 percent increase in area under Basmati cultivation. Farmers sowed Basmati in 6.80 lakh hectares during this Kharif Season, up from 5.96 lakh hectares in 2023. Punjab Government has also banned 10 agriculture pesticides used on Basmati to enable farmers to produce international standard Basmati. The Agricultural and Processed Food Products Export Development Authority (APEDA) is establishing a Basmati Extension-Research Centre. A residue testing laboratory will give a boost to Punjab’s basmati exports.
Punjab Expands Maize Cultivation with Subsidies and Farmer Support
Punjab has also managed to increase the area under maize from 0.94 lakh hectares in last year to 0.98 lakh hectares during the Kharif season-2024. The state has provided a subsidy on hybrid varieties of maize seeds. These seeds are certified and recommended by PAU, Ludhiana. The subsidy is at Rs 100 per kg. Rs 2.30 crore was reserved for the purpose. Apart from this, maize exhibitions were set up in an area of 3500 hectares in the state. Authorities provided maize seeds and other inputs like fertilizers and pesticides. He added that they provided assistance to the farmers at the rate of Rs. 6,000 per hectare.
State Cuts Paddy Stubble Fires by 70% with Subsidized CRM Machines
The Agriculture Minister further added that the state government has provided an 80% subsidy to farmer groups. It has also provided the subsidy to gram panchayats and FPOs. It also gives a 50% subsidy to individual farmers for Crop Residue Management (CRM) machines. During FY 2024-25 a total of 16,000 machines have been provided for stubble management. As a result, the number of paddy stubble fire incidents has decreased significantly. There were 36,663 fire incidents during 2023. This number reduced to 10,909 during 2024, marking a reduction of 70%.
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