Giving a further push to the agriculture sector besides motivating the State peasantry to adopt allied farming, Punjab Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal on Sunday announced to double the prize money for 7th National livestock Championship to the tune of Rs 2.5 crore from Rs 1.25 crore next year.
Presiding over the valedictory function of 6th National livestock Championship here at Guru Gobind Singh Stadium, Badal praised the farmers for bringing livestock in the championship to prove their worth in such a tough competition on the basis of confidence and spirit shown by these farmers and said that Punjab Government has decided to double the prize money for next livestock championship.
He said Punjab would be the first State to announce a policy to extend insurance for the livestock sector in the country and they would soon formulate a policy in this regard, which will provide immense benefits to cattle rearers.
Stressing upon the need to adopt allied sectors in farming, Badal said that in the present scenario merely dependence on agriculture was not profitable rather the farmers should adopt allied farming in terms of dairy, piggery, goatary to enhance their income substantially. He added the low margin due to stagnated MSP coupled with high cost of agriculture inputs have now compelled the farmers to go far livestock sector to improve their economic lot otherwise they would be vanished with the passage of time.
Quoting the diversification plan brought to fore by Punjab Government, the Chief Minister said organising such livestock championship events was also an essential part of diversification plan. He said farmers can adopt bee farming, piggery, goat farming etc since these were very profitable sectors having a huge market and demand in the society. He also informed that Punjab has formed various Special Development Boards vis-à-vis special informative directories for the facilitations of farmers interested in allied farming sectors.
Exhorting the farmers for healthy participation in the ensuing Progressive Punjab Agriculture Summit to be held at Chapparchiri from February 16 to 19, Badal informed this first-of-its-own kind event in the country would witness agri-experts, agri-scientists, soil-scientists, established, developing and progressing farmers from across the country and foreign countries too. He said this initiative of Punjab Government would definitely prove a boon for State peasantry and they should do participate in the event to know the current equations of farming sector.