Agri ministry okays Rs 75 crore for Punjab

In what would provide an impetus to the Punjab government's 'agriculture diversification programme, the Union agriculture ministry has sanctioned Rs 75 crore in the current fiscal under the National Horticulture Mission (NHM).

Making this announcement, a spokesperson of the chief minister's office said the funds would be provided for setting up and maintaining orchards, floriculture, bee-keeping besides installing community water tanks and cold storages. The approval of the action plan is being seen a major shot in the arm of the state government, which was making persistent efforts for motivating the farmers to shift their major cultivable area under paddy to other less water intensive crops like maize, soyabean, pulses, flowers, fruits and vegetables by providing the required machinery to the cultivators.

Concerted efforts were on to strengthen the infrastructure for the preservation of fruits and vegetables, which includes establishing two Centres of Excellence in the state.

At Khanaura in Hoshiarpur district at a cost of Rs 10.30 crore and at Kartarpur in Jalandhar district at a cost of Rs 9.73 crore. Both of these centres were being developed by the Punjab Mandi Board.