Thursday, March 28, 2024
ADVT 
India

Adopt alternative crops like cotton, basmati: Punjab CM

Darpan News Desk IANS, 30 Mar, 2023 10:28 AM
  • Adopt alternative crops like cotton, basmati: Punjab CM

Chandigarh, March 30 (IANS) Terming crop diversification a critical necessity for the state, Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann on Thursday gave a clarion call to the farmers for a paradigm shift in agriculture by adopting alternative crops like cotton, basmati, and moong.

In a video message to the farmers, he said several crops were grown on the fertile land but gradually the farmers confined themselves to paddy only.

He said this has adversely affected the topography of the state in terms of excessive power consumption, depletion of water table as most of the blocks had gone in extreme dark zones, pollution due burning of stubble and others.

Mann said to tackle this the need of hour is adopt alternative crops, adding a high-level committee headed by the Chief Secretary has also recommended the adoption of these crops.

He said the state government is adopting it in a big way. He accorded guarantee to provide canal water for cotton crop from April 1 and announced 33 per cent subsidy on cotton seeds certified by Punjab Agricultural University (PAU), besides to provide insurance on cotton crop and minimum support price (MSP) on basmati.

Expressing concern on various menaces posed by paddy, Mann said the government's firm belief to increase area under cotton cultivation will check the problem.

He said preventive measures are also being taken to check the attack of white fly and pink worm.

Recommending the cultivation of PR 126 and other similar varieties of paddy, he said special emphasis is being given to promote PAU certified varieties and discourage the water guzzling varieties such as PUSA 44 which take ample time for harvesting.

Mann said the MSP would continue on moong but the recent researches showed that the white fly problem arises on its crop. He suggested the farmers not cultivate moong in Mansa, Bathinda, Mukatsar Sahib, and Fazilka districts.

MORE India ARTICLES

Legal team working on Rahul's case: Kharge

Legal team working on Rahul's case: Kharge
As a mark of protest against the disqualification of Rahul Gandhi from the Lok Sabha, and to press its demand for a probe into the allegations of fraud levelled against the Adani Group, the Congress has launched 'Jai Bharat Satyagraha' across the country against the Centre. The party has set up a war room to monitor the 'Satyagraha', which will culminate in Delhi with a rally.

Legal team working on Rahul's case: Kharge

14 killed in Indore temple tragedy, President, PM express grief

14 killed in Indore temple tragedy, President, PM express grief
As per the police, the cover over an old stepwell, around 50 to 60 feet deep, on which devotees were standing to offering their prayers, caved in, due to which around 30 people fell into it. Panic spread as people started crying after seeing their beloved gasping for life in the deep well.

14 killed in Indore temple tragedy, President, PM express grief

Bipartisan bill introduced in Senate to fix loopholes in H-1B, L-1 visas

Bipartisan bill introduced in Senate to fix loopholes in H-1B, L-1 visas
The comprehensive overhaul of the H-1B and L-1 visa programmes will protect American workers and crack down on foreign outsourcing companies, which exploit these visa programs to deprive qualified Americans of high-skilled jobs. The two visa programmes were created to complement America's high-skilled workforce.

Bipartisan bill introduced in Senate to fix loopholes in H-1B, L-1 visas

Water cess not applicable in Punjab, clarifies Himachal CM

Water cess not applicable in Punjab, clarifies Himachal CM
During the meeting, the Chief Minister expressed the concern of the state over the proposed water cess on hydropower plants being implemented by the Himachal Pradesh government. Mann said the water cess should not be implemented as it is against the interests of the state.

Water cess not applicable in Punjab, clarifies Himachal CM

Director of defunct gold trading company arrested at Chennai airport

Director of defunct gold trading company arrested at Chennai airport
The police had earlier arrested K. Harish and J. Malathy, who were also directors of the company. Five more people are still at large in the multi-crore cheating case carried out by the company in the state.

Director of defunct gold trading company arrested at Chennai airport

Delhi reports 300 Covid cases, positivity rate nears 14%

Delhi reports 300 Covid cases, positivity rate nears 14%
Two Covid-19-related deaths have also been reported in the same time span. The positivity rate of the city has risen to 13.79 per cent. The number of active cases stands at 806 out of which 452 patients are being treated in home isolation.

Delhi reports 300 Covid cases, positivity rate nears 14%

PrevNext