Exhorting farmers to not put matchstick to crop residue, and instead use mechanisms to manage paddy stubble, Punjab Government is providing Surface Seeders — an in-situ paddy stubble management device — to the farmers on subsidy.
“The Department has invited applications from farmers for availing subsidy on the Surface Seeders,” said the state Agriculture and Farmers’ Welfare Minister Gurmeet Singh Khudian on Sunday.
Appealing the farmers to take maximum advantage of the scheme, Khudian said that the state’s farmers can apply online by logging in at the Department’s portal — agrimachinerypb.com — by September 10, 2023, till 5 pm to avail the benefit of this scheme.
The Agriculture Department is offering Rs 40,000 subsidy to individual farmers, while, Customer Hiring Centres can avail subsidy of Rs 64,000 on the purchase of a Surface Seeder.
Apart from this, the Minister said that the Punjab Government is also providing subsidies on the purchase of other Crop Residues Management (CRM) machinery to bring the crop residue burning cases to zero in the state to save the environment.
“The farmers can dial the toll-free number 1800-180-1551 or visit the Agriculture Office in their respective districts for more information in this regard,” he added.
Terming this step as cost-effective for farmers, Khudian said that the farmers can increase their income by adopting mechanization, besides, saving the environment. He also directed the department officials to ensure complete transparency in the whole process.