CHANDIGARH: The Punjab Agriculture and Farmers Welfare Department has decided to provide an incentive of Rs 17,500 per hectare to the farmers who wean away from paddy cultivation and shift to alternative crops. The aim is to encourage farmers to shun water-guzzling paddy crop so as to check groundwater depletion in the state.
Revealing this here today in a press communiqué, Punjab Agriculture and Farmers Welfare Minister Gurmeet Singh Khudian said Rs 289.87 crore had been allocated for this purpose for 2024-25.
Giving breakup of the revamped Crop Diversification Programme (CDP) for replacing paddy, he said any farmer could avail the benefit on maximum five hectares and the incentive amount would be directly transferred into the bank account of the beneficiary via direct benefit transfer (DBT) in two equal instalments.
The first instalment would be transferred immediately after verification through digital crop survey and Krishi Mapper app, while the second instalment would be paid after the harvesting of the crop.
Khudian said Punjab played a crucial role in the Green Revolution, which helped the nation become self-sufficient in food security. Cultivation of paddy in Punjab led to over-dependence on tubewell irrigation, causing groundwater depletion. He said Chief Minister Bhagwant Singh Mann-led state government had decided to implement the revised CDP in all districts of the state and preference would be given to critical and overexploited blocks of the identified districts.
Special Chief Secretary, Agriculture and Farmers Welfare, KAP Sinha said the Centre had launched a revamped Crop Diversification Programme to encourage farmers to diversify from paddy to alternative crops during kharif season 2024. He said farmer could apply online on the state portal to avail benefits under the scheme. State and district-level committees would be constituted for the effective implementation of the programme, he added.