Agriculture Minister Punjab Tota Singh disclosed here today that over 5 lac quintal seeds of wheat have been distributed to farmers across Punjab through the National Seed Corporation, Punseed, Punjab Agriculture University, IFCO, Kripco, Punjab Agro and other allied agencies as per the requirement of the farmers. The Punjab Government has been committed to providing seeds of progressive varieties of Wheat HD 2967, PVW 550, and PVW 621 to farmers at a subsidy of Rs. 700 per quintal, which is the highest rate of subsidy to be provided in comparison to neighbouring states like Himachal Pradesh, Haryana, U.P. and Jammu & Kashmir.
The certified wheat seeds offered costed INR 1625 per quintal to the farmers of the state. He said that the seeds offered were of the highest quality and are expected to have a high yielding capacity and are compatible with the Punjab soil. INR 32 Crore subsidy was allocated for wheat seed distribution and the same has been achieved in a transparent manner. Over 2.5 lac farmers of the state have availed the subsidy and benefited from the government scheme. He also said that the provision was made under the National Food Security Mission and Rashtriya Krishi Vigyan Yojna. With the provisions and welfare schemes introduced by the Punjab Government for the farmers, the yield and production of the wheat crop is expected to surpass that of the previous years and benefit farmers state-wide.In addition to subsidies and loans being provided to farmers, additional services are being provided such as counselling helplines, training programs and awareness camps where farmers can educate themselves of new and emerging farming techniques and methods for production and pest control.