Punjab Agriculture Minister Tota Singh on Tuesday said that due to inappropriate prices of crops, the State’s farmers as well as the entire State has faced a lot of financial loss. “Punjab is an agricultural State whose maximum economy depends on agriculture. But, due to inappropriate prices of crops, the farmers of Punjab as well the entire state has faced a lot of financial loss,” said Singh while addressing a state level conference on crop diversification after inaugurating Rs19 crore Kheti Bhawan at SAS Nagar.
Emphasising on reducing the expenses incurred, Singh said that the farmers should adopt crop diversification and allied occupations. He said that to facilitate the farmers, the “Centre should fix the minimum support prices for crops. Punjab Government is taking necessary steps and is committed to improve the financial status of State’s farmers”.
The Minister said that agriculture experts should provide technical knowledge of new agriculture practices and should also motivate the farmers for adopting new techniques which are beneficial for improving the production, so that the financial status of farmers could be uplifted. He urged that everybody should encourage others for making a drug-free healthy society.
Regarding the Kheti Bhawan, Singh said that earlier, the agriculture offices were operating from rented buildings at Chandigarh. “But now, after construction of the Kheti Bhawan, all agriculture offices have come under one roof which will be beneficial for the farmers as it will save their time, effort and money,” he said.
Chief Parliamentary Secretary (Agriculture) Gurbachan Singh Babbehali, addressing the conference, said that field officers of agriculture department should directly supervise the cultivation and should generate awareness among farmers to reduce their expenses. Additional Chief Secretary Suresh Kumar advised the technocrats of agriculture department to generate awareness among farmers regarding profitable crops rather than traditional practices. Emphasising on modern agriculture practices, he said that young generation should also adopt agriculture occupations.