Punjab government, on Sunday, announced sops for farmers, giving them 50 per cent subsidy on fruit plants besides providing barbed wire and nets subject to a maximum subsidy of Rs 1400 to cultivators owning more than 10 acres of land. Announcing the decision Punjab agriculture minister Gurdev Singh Badal said, the farmers would also be given plant-protecting equipment. He said that the concession was being given to encourage the farmers to bring their additional land under horticulture and sericulture, which were more remunerative and productive. He said that an area of 93220 acres had been brought under fruit cultivation in the state and the agriculture department has proposed to bring an additional area of 35000 acres under fruit cultivation during the current year. Similarly, it had been proposed to increase the production of seed potato from the existing 19000 quintals to 25000 quintals per year and that of the vegetable seeds from 500 quintals to 600 quintals with a provision of 1.60 crore.
Badal said the agriculture department had also decided to grant subsidy to the farmers at the rate of Rs 5000 per half acre unit of Mulberry bush plantation on their land for sericulture cultivation and an amount of Rs 20 lakh had been provided under the scheme for the year 2000-2001. Similarly, an outlay of Rs 10 lakh had been provided under the plant protection scheme for the current year. Bureau Report