Punjab CM to fund agriculture diversification scheme in state

CHANDIGARH: In a bid to fund the agriculture diversification program across the state, Punjab chief minister, Parkash Singh Badal, in a meeting here at his residence, chalked out a blue print for the implementation of various schemes and projects at a cost of nearly Rs.217 crore under the Rashtriya Krishi Vigyan Yojana (RKVY).  
 
In a meeting with senior functionaries of various departments, the chief minister asked them to chalk out a detailed strategy to ensure supply of agriculture inputs through primary agriculture societies not only to its members but also to the farmers based in the villages.  He constituted a committee under the chairmanship of financial commissioner development (FCD) with director agriculture and MD Markfed as its members to find out ways and means for purchase of fertilizers, insecticides, pesticides etc. directly from the companies and make it available to the farmers at affordable rates.  

In the meeting Badal also approved to constitute a committee to identify high yielding varieties of Maize initially to be sown over an area of 50,000 hectares under the much needed crop diversification program.