Punjab seeks financial aid from Centre for farmers

“There is a requirement of financial package to take the farmers of the state out of the debt trap, wheat-paddy cycle, curbing stubble burning, modern tools and for promoting crop diversification, besides fruit and vegetable farming,” the statement said citing the letter.

Dhaliwal also demanded a financial package for farmers living in border areas and funds for saving water and using modern tools to protect crops against pest attacks.

The state demanded the opening of export of agricultural and horticultural products to Pakistan, Iran and Middle East so as to expand the income of farmers in Punjab.

The letter further said that farmers of the 14,000 acres in the 150-feet wide 425 kilometres long belt across the fence along the international border should be compensated for the adverse conditions imposed on them. They can work only 10 am to 4pm and can’t grow crops higher than 3 feet. Therefore, they should be compensated with Rs 15,000 per acre per year, said Dhaliwal.

The government of India should set up an adequate corpus to help the farmer in the state. “The corpus should have two components – one to handhold the farmer to come out of wheat-paddy cycle and second to upgrade the level of research in Punjab Agricultural University, Ludhiana,” Dhaliwal wrote.