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Agriculture minister Kuldeep Singh Dhaliwal seeks financial package from Centre
Punjab agriculture minister Kuldeep Singh Dhaliwal has demanded a financial package for curbing trend of stubble burning, reducing hardships of border area farmers and saving water in agriculture
The Punjab agriculture minister, Kuldeep Singh Dhaliwal on Thursday handed over a letter to Union agriculture minister Narendra Singh Tomar to impress upon the Union government to take the farmers of the state out of the debt trap, wheat-paddy cycle and promote crop diversification besides fruit and vegetable farming.
He has demanded a financial package for curbing the trend of stubble burning, reducing the hardships of border area farmers and saving water in agriculture and using modern tools to protect against pest attacks. Apart from this, it has also been demanded to open the export of agricultural and horticultural products to the Middle East so as to expand the income of farmers of the state.
Dhaliwal attended the national conference of agriculture and horticulture ministers of the states at Bengaluru, where he met the Union agriculture minister and demanded financial relief for the farmers of the state.
The minister has written that an average farmer feels he is in a debt trap. As Punjab is a border state, Pakistan is always on the lookout for vulnerabilities of the large farming population of the state further weakening it by promoting drugs and militancy. It is, therefore, requested that as a one-time measure a debt waiver fund should be given to the state, mentioned the minister in his letter.
