Dist-specific targets to promote crop diversification delayed

The district-specific targets, under the government’s ambitious ‘Mera Pani Meri Virasat’ (MPMV) scheme, aimed to promote crop diversification and reduce the area under water-guzzling paddy crop are yet to be released.

Under the government-backed scheme, farmers are given incentive for diversification by planting alternative crops like maize, cotton, kharif pulses, fodder crops, vegetables and agroforestry.

To motivate farmers to adopt the scheme, the government earlier this year had announced to increase the incentive under the scheme from Rs 7,000 per acre to 8,000 per acre.

An official in the Agriculture Department said that the targets under the ‘Mera Pani Meri Virasat’ scheme are expected to be released next week. Those should have been released in May.

Deputy Director Agriculture Ambala Dr Jasvinder Saini said, “The targets under ‘Mera Pani Meri Virasat’ scheme are expected to be released soon. To motivate the farmers, the government has increased the incentive from Rs 7,000 to Rs 8,000 from this season. We are hopeful that farmers will show interest in the scheme. The interest of farmers in agroforestry is increasing gradually and we are hopeful that the farmers will give a good response to MPMV in the district.”

“The incentives of Direct Seeded Rice (DSR) and MPMV for the previous season have also been transferred into the bank accounts of the farmers. The sowing under DSR is also on. If the weather remains favourable, a good area will be covered under DSR in this season. The district has a target of 15,000 acre under DSR,” he added.

Deputy Director Agriculture Kurukshetra Dr Karamchand said, “The department has been making continuous efforts to motivate farmers to adopt crop diversification. We are coordinating with the farmers and the targets are expected to be released soon. The government has also increased the incentive and the farmers should take benefit of the scheme by replacing paddy with alternative crops.”

Haryana Tribune