In its first budget, the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) government in Punjab on Monday made an outlay of ₹11,560 crore for the agriculture sector, of which a major chunk — ₹ 6,947 crore (exactly 60%) — goes into funding the free electricity supply to more than 14 lakh agriculture pumpsets. The allocation saw a jump of 150%, as compared to the last fiscal’s ₹4,778 crore for agriculture.
The other big slice — ₹450 crore — has been reserved for the previously announced incentive of ₹1,500 crore to paddy growers of the state for adopting direct seeding of rice (DSR). The incentive has been pegged to be given for DSR cultivation over 12 lakh hectares (30 lakh acres), but paddy using this water-saving non-conventional method has been sown over only one lakh acre. There are chances that allocation might have to be diverted to other heads in the sector.
“Punjab’s agriculture sector is at crossroads. On the one hand, we need to increase farmers’ income, and on the other, we are under the obligation to save Punjab from desertification,” said finance minister Harpal Singh Cheema reading out his budget speech.
