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Punjab: Area under cotton up 20%, says Khudian
According to the agriculture minister, Fazilka district leads in cotton cultivation with 60,121 hectares, followed by Mansa (27,621 hectares), Bathinda (17,080 hectares) and Muktsar (13,240 hectares)
The cotton cultivation in Punjab during the current kharif season has witnessed a 20% increase, taking the area under cotton from 2.49 lakh acres last year to 2.98 lakh acres this year, an increase of over 49,000 acres. Punjab minister of agriculture and farmers welfare Gurmeet Singh Khudian informed this on Monday.
Chairing a meeting to review the ongoing kharif season and departmental projects here, Khudian said Fazilka district leads in cotton cultivation with 60,121 hectares, followed by Mansa (27,621 hectares), Bathinda (17,080 hectares) and Muktsar (13,240 hectares).
The agriculture minister said that the Punjab government would provide a 33% subsidy on cotton seeds to growers with over 49,000 farmers having already registered online. He directed the chief agriculture officers to ensure all cotton growers complete online registration by June 15.
Khudian expressed satisfaction over the enthusiastic response of the state’s farmers towards kharif maize cultivation with over 54,000 acres already sown in just nine days since sowing commenced on June 1 across the state.
The state government will give an incentive of ₹17,500 per hectare to farmers for shifting from paddy to maize under a pilot project covering six districts — Bathinda, Sangrur, Pathankot, Gurdaspur, Jalandhar and Kapurthala.
The project aims to bring 12,000 hectares under maize, promoting agricultural diversification and groundwater conservation. To facilitate this transition, the state government has appointed 200 kisan mitars to guide and encourage farmers.
