 "Badal seeks Rs 2,330-cr aid package for farmers")
Punjab Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal has asked the Centre for Rs 2,330 crore to compensate farmers for the extra cost incurred to irrigate fields.
The chief minister met Agriculture Minister Radha Mohan Singh on Tuesday to ask for the special assistance, to combat the deficit in rainfall and the drought-like situation in the state. Badal told Singh Punjab had experienced 51 per cent deficit rainfall till June 30, and to mitigate effects of the deficit rainfall, farmers were spending extra money on diesel to irrigate fields. This and other related inputs to sustain kharif crops were adding to the burden of the farmers, the chief minister said.
Badal wanted the government to either defer loan payments this season or lower interest rates, and also examine the possibility of converting short-term credit to medium-term ones. "The interest payable to Nabard on the funds provided to cooperative banks must be lowered so that banks can pass on the benefit to the farmers," he said. The chief minister also wanted a bonus, apart from the minimum support price, paid to cover the additional costs. Badal also urged the Union minister to provide seeds of alternative crops at subsidised rates.
Many also had to deepen their tube wells and convert from mono block pump-sets to submersible ones or tube wells. Nearly 85,000 tube wells would need further deepening to ensure there was adequate water for irrigation, the chief minister said, costing Rs 700 crore. Badal said 2.8 million hectares were under paddy cultivation, 40,000 hectares less than last year, due to the deficient rainfall.
Punjab has always been at the forefront of ensuring food security of the nation and has contributed 40 to 50 per cent of wheat and 30 to 35 per cent of rice to the central pool in the past three decades, the chief minister said. He said the state's farmers would go to any extent to save their crops.
The chief minister also said Punjab State Power Corporation Limited was diverting electricity from sectors that were paying to the non-paying agriculture sector to ensure uninterrupted supply to the farmers but it was also purchasing extra power from outside, which might cost an additional Rs 1,500 crore. This puts extraordinary strain on the farmers and the state government, Badal said, and poses a serious challenge to the national food security scheme.
CASH PINCH
| Punjab chief minister met Agriculture Minister Radha Mohan Singh for a special central assistance of Rs 2,330 crore
| He wants to combat deficit monsoon & the prevailing drought-like situation in the state
| Punjab has experienced 51 per cent deficit rainfall in various districts up to June 30
| Farmers using diesel-run pumps have to spend more, increasing their expenses manifold
| Dependence on diesel puts an additional burden of Rs 79 crore on farmers
The chief minister met Agriculture Minister Radha Mohan Singh on Tuesday to ask for the special assistance, to combat the deficit in rainfall and the drought-like situation in the state. Badal told Singh Punjab had experienced 51 per cent deficit rainfall till June 30, and to mitigate effects of the deficit rainfall, farmers were spending extra money on diesel to irrigate fields. This and other related inputs to sustain kharif crops were adding to the burden of the farmers, the chief minister said.
Badal wanted the government to either defer loan payments this season or lower interest rates, and also examine the possibility of converting short-term credit to medium-term ones. "The interest payable to Nabard on the funds provided to cooperative banks must be lowered so that banks can pass on the benefit to the farmers," he said. The chief minister also wanted a bonus, apart from the minimum support price, paid to cover the additional costs. Badal also urged the Union minister to provide seeds of alternative crops at subsidised rates.
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The chief minister told the Union minister that farmers who use diesel pumps have to spend more to run tube wells, increasing their expenditure manifold to mitigate the drought-like situation. The deficit rainfall would put an additional burden of Rs 79 crore on the farmers.
Many also had to deepen their tube wells and convert from mono block pump-sets to submersible ones or tube wells. Nearly 85,000 tube wells would need further deepening to ensure there was adequate water for irrigation, the chief minister said, costing Rs 700 crore. Badal said 2.8 million hectares were under paddy cultivation, 40,000 hectares less than last year, due to the deficient rainfall.
Punjab has always been at the forefront of ensuring food security of the nation and has contributed 40 to 50 per cent of wheat and 30 to 35 per cent of rice to the central pool in the past three decades, the chief minister said. He said the state's farmers would go to any extent to save their crops.
The chief minister also said Punjab State Power Corporation Limited was diverting electricity from sectors that were paying to the non-paying agriculture sector to ensure uninterrupted supply to the farmers but it was also purchasing extra power from outside, which might cost an additional Rs 1,500 crore. This puts extraordinary strain on the farmers and the state government, Badal said, and poses a serious challenge to the national food security scheme.
CASH PINCH
| Punjab chief minister met Agriculture Minister Radha Mohan Singh for a special central assistance of Rs 2,330 crore
| He wants to combat deficit monsoon & the prevailing drought-like situation in the state
| Punjab has experienced 51 per cent deficit rainfall in various districts up to June 30
| Farmers using diesel-run pumps have to spend more, increasing their expenses manifold
| Dependence on diesel puts an additional burden of Rs 79 crore on farmers