The wheat seed subsidy will be provided for an area of up to 5 acres (representation)
Chandigarh:
Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh on Sunday approved the Department of Agriculture’s “Wheat Seed Subsidy Policy-2020-21” to provide certified wheat seed at 50 percent subsidy to farmers during the rabi season.
A total of 1.85 lakh quintals of certified seed, with a subsidy of Rs 18.50 crore, will directly benefit around 2.5 lakh farmers under the policy, according to an official statement here.
A subsidy equivalent to 50 percent of the total seed cost, or up to a maximum of Rs 1,000 per quintal, will be transferred directly to the bank accounts of candidate farmers.
The wheat seed subsidy will be provided for an area of up to 5 acres.
The chief minister ordered the ministry to give priority to marginal small farmers for the provision of subsidized seeds. The subsidy should only be given to eligible farmers and the amount of the subsidy should be transferred directly to the accounts of the beneficiary farmers, the chief minister said.
Amarinder asked Anirudh Tewari, Additional Chief Secretary (Development), to give detailed instructions to officials / staff of the agriculture department to closely monitor the seeds sold in their respective region, and said that only quality seeds should be given to farmers, the statement said.
He warned that relevant officials / employees of seed agencies as well as agricultural officers at district and block level would be held directly responsible if a complaint was received or if professional misconduct was detected in the distribution of seeds.
Farmers can submit their applications to the Agriculture Department offices in their region from November 1 to qualify for the grant.
Tewari said the agriculture ministry has made all arrangements to provide wheat seed at subsidized rates to farmers.
Wheat is expected to be grown on an area of around 35 lakh in the state during the 2020-2021 rabi season.
(Except for the title, this story was not edited by GalacticGaming staff and is posted from a syndicated feed.)
