Cultivate maize, get Rs23,500, farmers told
Scheme in 11 dists
The Nabard scheme will be implemented in Moga, Patiala, Fatehgarh Sahib, Ludhiana, Ferozepur, Bathinda, Shaheed Bhagat Singh Nagar, Jalandhar, Hoshiarpur, Kapurthala and Ropar districts
Tribune News Service
Moga, March 24
For pushing the crop diversification, the National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (Nabard) will give a subsidy of Rs 23,500 per hectare to farmers, who will shift from paddy to maize cultivation.
This scheme has been launched under the National Adaptation Fund for Climate Change (NAFCC) for 2021-22 under which 10,000 hectares will initially be covered in 11 districts. This scheme will be implemented in Moga, Patiala, Fatehgarh Sahib, Ludhiana, Ferozepur, Bathinda, Shaheed Bhagat Singh Nagar, Jalandhar, Hoshiarpur, Kapurthala and Ropar districts.
As per conditions laid down under this scheme, a cluster will be developed of at least 25 hectares. The preference will be given to the blocks where the groundwater has gone deeper and the tendency of farmers to burn crop residues (straw) is higher. Apart from this, the block, where the yield of paddy crop is less than the average yield of the district, will also be included in this scheme.
The Agriculture and Farmers Welfare Department has asked the district administration to prepare an action plan for the implementation of this project during the coming Kharif season.
Interestingly, the state government has also decided to implement the “Pani Bachao, Paisa Kamao” scheme in these blocks where demonstration plots will be set up and farmers be given benefits of the scheme in addition to the financial assistance for crop diversification.
The agriculture department has started preparing a blueprint of the project in Moga under which four plots will be ready. The department has already started motivating farmers to come forward and avail the benefits under this scheme.
Dr Balwinder Singh, Chief Agriculture Officer and Dr Jaswinder Singh Brar, Plant Protection Officer, had appealed to farmers to contact the agriculture development officers of their areas to avail financial assistance for crop diversification.
