Under an ambitious futuristic strategy, the Punjab Government has urged the State’s farmers to cultivate maize as an alternate crop to the water-guzzling paddy.
The state has not only provided an option of alternate crop, but also a helping hand in the form of subsidy on maize seed at the rate of Rs 84 per kilogram, said an official spokesperson of the Agriculture Department.
The spokesperson said that this move is aimed at pulling out the state’s debt-ridden peasantry from the vicious circle of wheat-paddy cultivation.
“The varieties of maize seed producing higher yield are promoted by the Government,” he said adding that maize seed of variety like lakshmi-333 is available to the farmers at the rate of Rs 168 per kg, DKC.-9125 at the rate of Rs 220, DKC-9140/II8017 at the rate of Rs 225, PAC-751 at the rate of Rs 210, lY-558/4558 at the rate of Rs 190, PMH-2255 at the rate of Rs 179, TX-369 at the rate of Rs 180, P-3396 at the rate of Rs 265, P-3401 at the rate of Rs 375 and maize seed of PMH-1 variety is available to the farmers at the rate of Rs 175 per kilogram.
Spokesperson said that the farmers could get maize seed maximum of five by contacting the District Chief Agriculture Officer or Block Agriculture Officer or Agriculture Development Officer, concerned.He said that the subsidy for maize seed, pesticides and insecticides would be directly credited to the farmers’ bank account under the Direct Benefit Transfer (DBT) scheme.
The farmers have also been advised to sow the maize seed on the beds of the field in order to get high yield, he added.