Punjab Chief Minister Capt Amarinder Singh on Tuesday sought the World Bank’s technological and financial support to help the State’s farmers’ transition from the conventional wheat-paddy cycle to a diversified cropping pattern, aimed at income enhancement and water conservation.
During a meeting with a World Bank delegation led by Global Director (Agriculture and Water) Dr Juergen Voegele, the Chief Minister said that incentivized by the State Government’s programmes, many farmers were adopting alternate crops by shunning wheat and paddy cultivation. They needed technological and financial support, which the World Bank could provide, he said.
Capt Amarinder directed the State Agriculture Department to come out with a blueprint of crop diversification and groundwater saving projects for submission to the World Bank, for their technological and financial support.
During the high-level meeting, which focused on the critical issues of crop diversification to enhance farmers’ income and check water depletion, the Chief Minister also urged the World Bank to provide support for promotion of fruit and livestock exports in Punjab, as it had done in Uzbekistan.
Capt Amarinder asked the delegation members to share their experiences and innovations to complement the State’s efforts to protect its groundwater table.
He mooted de-coupling of farm subsidies from production, and underlined the need for an efficient marketing mechanism to incentivise farmers towards crop diversification, saying that the World Bank could support the State Government’s programmes in this regard.
At the same time, Capt Amarinder also stressed the importance of enlargement of the existing farm support mechanism, for which procurement of alternate crops like maize, cotton and sugarcane by the Central Government at MSP (minimum support price) was vital.
The Chief Minister apprised the visiting delegation that as a part of its initiatives to strengthen the support mechanism for farmers, the State Government would be introducing the amended Agricultural Produce Market Committee Act (APMC) in the Assembly soon. Rules for the amendments, aimed at market reforms, had already been finalized, he added.
Underscoring the significance of having in place an efficient data base, the Chief Minister also asked the Agriculture Department to also devise a permanent mechanism for collation of analytical work in the farming sector, in order to leverage the same for successful implementation of policies.
The issue of stubble burning also came up during the meeting and the Chief Minister said that the farmers needed to be incentivized through cost compensation by the Central Government to make the campaign against the harmful practice a success.
Lauding the state’s initiatives like ‘paani bachao, paise kamao’, Dr Voegele assured the Chief Minister of full support from the World Bank in his government’s efforts towards crop diversification and water conservation.
Punjab has great opportunity to herald a new Agri revolution by leveraging its potential in fruits and allied sectors, he added.