In order to give further boost to agriculture and its allied sectors in the agrarian state, the Punjab Government on Monday gave nod to various projects worth Rs 430 crore.The approval to these projects was given at a state-level sanctioning committee meeting of the Rashtriya Krishi Vikas Yojna (RKVY) scheme, chaired by the Chief Secretary, Ms Vini Mahajan, here.The approved projects in different sectors included five projects in agriculture, six horticulture, five Punjab Agro, two Markfed, three dairy development and nine projects of Punjab Agriculture University and some other projects, which will be implemented in the state.Sharing details, the Chief Secretary said the wheat seed replacement, diversification of agriculture, and research project in relation to crops and animals besides plant health clinic were among the major projects to come up in the state.She said the states have been empowered to take forward agricultural development by preparing projects as per their requirement under the RKVY scheme, which is running at 60:40 ratio.“These projects would not only increase the income of the farmers in Punjab but also boost the growth rate of agriculture in the agrarian state,” said Ms Mahajan.She said acceding to the state government’s request for early release of funds to fast-track implementation of these projects at the earliest, the Government of India has assured that funds would be provided to Punjab on a priority basis.The Chief Secretary directed the heads of all the departments concerned to complete the pending projects of the previous financial year on priority basis and send the utilisation certificates immediately so that the funds for the new approved projects could be received soon from the Government of India.Additional Chief Secretaries Vijay Kumar Janjua (Animal Husbandry), Anirudh Tewari (Development), Principal Secretary Finance KAP Sinha, Financial Commissioner Cooperation K Siva Prasad, Anand Krishan Director RKVY from GoI, Punjab Agro MD Manjit Singh Brar, Markfed MD Varun Roojam, Dr.BS Sidhu, Commissioner Agriculture and Director Agriculture Sukhdev Singh Sidhu also attended the meeting.