A special session regarding Agriculture Infrastructure Fund (AIF) Scheme of Horticulture Department was held under the leadership of cabinet minister Fauja Singh Sarari
Speaking on the occasion, the Cabinet Minister said that the vision of collectively running the government for the welfare of the people is being realized through such initiatives.
He said that this is benefiting various sections of the state, including farmers and small scale entrepreneurs in the processing industry. He said that this new initiative is beneficial and inspiring for the agriculture and food processing sector.
He said that investments of more than 1800 crores have been attracted on 1122 projects under the Agricultural Infrastructure Fund Scheme in Punjab. He said that 313 crore rupees have already been disbursed by various lending institutions.
Sangrur, Patiala and Mansa are the leading districts in Punjab to benefit from this scheme. He said that the beneficiary accounts of these three districts are about one-third of the sanctioned loan amount from the entire state.
The major infrastructure built in the state through this scheme includes cold rooms and cold stores, primary processing centers, custom hiring centers, warehouses and existing agricultural infrastructure and solar panels.
He said that he will strive to make Punjab number one state in the implementation of this scheme. He appealed to the representatives of industry from the Punjab to encourage the upcoming entrepreneurs and support the efforts being made to promote agri-business and diversification in Punjab.
He congratulated Horticulture Department and CII Chandigarh on their joint venture.On this occasion, Mr. Sarari also assured that the Punjab government led by Bhagwant Mann would take various welfare steps on the demand of the farmers for the bright future of the state.
Elaborating on such pro-farmer steps in the near future, he said that new juice processing plants will be set up in the state to promote kinnow cultivation, similarly there is a proposal to set up plants for guava juice processing.
With the aim of curbing the pollution caused by straw burning in the state, the use of straw for packaging of kinnow will be further encouraged. Clusters on freezing of fresh peas and their storage will also be created to further promote agricultural diversification so that farmers can get fair prices of their produce.
Vidhan Sabha Speaker Kultar Singh Sandhwaan specially participated in the event and Vice Chancellor Punjab Agriculture University Dr. Satbir Singh Gosal, Union Agriculture Joint Secy GOI Parveen kumar Samyuel , Director Horticulture, Mir Shabir Azad progressive farmer of Jammu and Kashmir and many other farmers also participated in the session.