Over Rs 1,000 cr to be spent on crop diversification project
The Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) will be spending over Rs 1,000 crore in the state under the crop diversification promotion project to improve the financial condition of farmers.
This was stated by JICA media advisor Rajeshwar Thakur here today. He said the Central Government provided Rs 800 crore for the project while Rs 200 crore was contributed by the state government. He said over 25,000 farmers of the state would benefit from the project. Farmers’ development associations were formed to rope in farmers, he added.
Thakur said Chief Minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu was apprised about the progress of the project by the JICA in Shimla recently. He said the CM directed the agency to speed up the work so that the project could be completed on time. He said the crop diversification project was important step towards increasing the income of farmers by adopting new farming techniques.
He said construction of irrigation schemes was also undertaken by the JICA along with promotion of cultivation of traditional crops and vegetables. He said the CM had advised to ensure that the benefit of the project should reach farmers who were deprived of facilities and had less or no access to markets.
