The State Agriculture Department will extend grants upto Rs10,000 to farmers taking up cultivation of pulses, oilseeds and maize instead of paddy during the summer season.
The move is aimed at promoting cultivation of crops with higher income potential besides preventing fall in ground water levels.
The scheme of grants had been implemented following announcement of the same by Chief Minister Raman Singh in his Agriculture budget during financial year 2013-14.
The benefit of the scheme is being extended to only those farmers who had already been involved in cultivation of pulses, oilseeds and maize instead of paddy during the summer season.
As per the scheme, a grant of Rs2,000 is offered per acre to the farmers for cultivation of pulses, oilseeds and maize upto the maximum limit of 5 acres totalling Rs10,000. However, the scheme can be availed by the famers only once.
The farmers need to carry out sowing in a minimum of an acre of land for becoming a beneficiary of the scheme. The grant is offered to the farmers in the form of seeds, fertilisers or other equipment in proportion to the eligibility of the grant offered to them.
They can even buy the aforesaid items as per their wishes from co-operative committees, Chhattisgarh State Seeds and Agriculture Development Corporation or private sellers.
The scheme had also been made applicable for the farmers who farm on shared land.
If the number of applicants exceed the targetted number of beneficiaries then the grant would be offered on a first-come-first-serve basis .
Notably, during the Kharif season, paddy is sown in an estimated 37 lakh hectares of land After the harvesting of paddy in the Kharif season, the summer season paddy is sown in two lakh hectares of land.
Summers paddy cultivation requires two to three times more water than those required by pulses, oilseeds and maize crops.
Paddy cultivation during the summer season also leads to lower ground water levels due to excessive drawing of water for the crops.
After the harvest of paddy during its normal season, the summer season paddy is vulnerable to attack by insects and other pests besides diseases.