Diversification: Central team to visit Punjab

A team of Union Agriculture Ministry will visit Chandigarh on April 20 and hold discussions on crop diversification with the Punjab government.

The central team discuss promoting crop diversification in Punjab on April 20 and 21, state agriculture department director M S Sandhu said Thursday.

The Central team will be led by Mukeh Khullar,Joint Secretary with the Union Agriculture ministry and discussion will revolve around working out modalities to successfully implement crop diversification by replacing paddy with other crops,he said.

From Punjab side senior officials of Agriculture Department,Punjab Agricultural University and Punjab State Farmers Commission will participate in the meeting.

The Central team visit to Chandigarh comes on the heels of meeting between Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal and Union Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar in Delhi on April 15.

Badal in the meeting had impressed upon the Union Agriculture Minister to sanction Rs 5,000 crore for launching diversification programme in the state. Badal had termed Rs 500 crore allocated by Union Finance Minister P Chidambaram in Union Budget 2013-14 for crop diversification as too little and inadequate.

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