To make the State Government’s ambitious farm diversification plan a huge success, Punjab Agriculture and Farmers Welfare Department has decided to provide subsidy on hybrid seeds of Kharif maize and cover over 4700 hectares area under maize demonstrations.
“Farmers can avail Rs 100 as a subsidy on purchase of every one kg of hybrid maize seeds certified and recommended by Punjab Agricultural University (PAU),” said the state’s Agriculture and Farmers Welfare Minister Gurmeet Singh Khudian on Sunday.
He said that the subsidy for hybrid Kharif maize seeds will be provided for a maximum five acres of area or 40 kgs per farmer and a total amount of 2,300 quintal seeds will be made available to the state farmers at a subsidized price.
“Under maize demonstrations, a total area of 4700 hectares will be covered for which farmers will receive financial support of Rs 6000 per hectare for various inputs including fertilizers, insecticides etc,” he said.
To wean off the state farmers from water-guzzling paddy crop to save the groundwater, the Minister said Punjab has set a target to cultivate Kharif maize on a record two lakh hectares, almost double as compared to the last year.
Urging the state farmers to take maximum benefits of the scheme, Khudian said that the subsidy amount will be directly transferred to the beneficiary farmers’ bank accounts through Direct Benefit Transfer (DBT) scheme to ensure transparency. Interested farmers of the state can submit their application at online portal agrimachinerypb.com to avail the subsidy on the hybrid maize seeds.
He also asked the Agriculture Department authorities to ensure close monitoring of seeds being sold in the state and only quality seeds should be made available to the farmers.
