Punjab food and civil supplies minister Bharat Bhushan Ashu said on Sunday that procurement of wheat variety HD 2967 was going on smoothly throughout the state.
He termed news reports about HD 2967 wheat variety not being purchased in Malwa belt as baseless. Ashu said this variety was being cultivated by farmers for many years and it had also been approved by Punjab Agricultural University (PAU), Ludhiana. He maintained that every procurement agency was procuring this variety.
The food supplies minister made it clear that the (Fci) had not refused to procure any wheat variety. According to him, 750 quintals of HD 2967 wheat variety was purchased at Dhammu (Mansa) mandi on April 16 and 4,500 quintals was purchased in this centre on April 17. Ashu reiterated the commitment of the State Government to purchase farmers entire produce.
The cabinet sub-committee, under the chairmanship of Minister Dr Inderbir Singh Nijjar, also comprises Agriculture-notes-for-state-psc-exams”>Agriculture Minister Kuldeep Singh Dhaliwal, School Education Minister Harjot Singh Bains, and Power Minister Harbhajan Singh ETO as its members.
The Minister informed that approximately Rs 100 crores will be spent on development works for the beautification of the city of Amritsar for the G-20 Summit. The extensive arrangements will be made for the success of this global event. With this international event, the state will emerge on the global tourism map, it would also give a boost to the Investment in the state, he said.
Giving details of the works to be done to strengthen the beauty and basic Infrastructure of the city, Dr Nijjar said that whatever work will be done, will be not only for the program, but will be strong and sustainable works according to the needs of the city residents.
Farmers in the state have gone in for cultivation on a much bigger scale this year. The area under cultivation of the white gold has gone up by 52,000 hectares this year.
Data available from the Agriculture-notes-for-state-psc-exams”>Agriculture Department shows that against 2.51 lakh hectare area under cotton last year, the crop had been sown on 3.03 lakh hectares. An assured market at the minimum support price MSP announced by the government has led to the new confidence among farmers in the cotton crop.
Last year, almost 80 per cent of the cotton crop was procured by the Cotton Corporation of India (CCI) at the MSP of Rs 5,825 a quintal. The remaining was bought by private traders at rates varying between Rs 5,900- Rs 6,000 a quintal.
TheAQIinPunjabhas witnessed a bit of improvement but is still under poor category on the index. The Average AQI recorded on Thursday in Punjab is 220 whereas on Wednesday the state recorded 344 AQI, the maximum this season so far. The state pollution board officials blamed the changing and erratic weather conditions, calm wind flow and lack of dispersion of smoke as major reasons behind Wednesday’s rise in AQI.
Meanwhile inHaryana, the air quality was in the poor category in Fatehabad (299),Yamunanagar(296), Jind (293),Faridabad(292), Hisar (252), Dharuhera (243), Gurgaon (237), Manesar (236), Rohtak (223), Bahadurgarh (221), Panchkula (210), and Bhiwani (209).
Channi had announced to enhance the existing amount of compensation from Rs 12,000 to Rs 17,000 per acre to the growers in the Malwa belt of Southern Punjab. He also announced 10% relief to the cotton pickers over and above the aforesaid norms of compensation. Resultantly, the farm labourers/cotton pickers would now also get enhanced compensation of Rs 1,700 per acre from the earlier Rs 1,200 per acre.
Meanwhile, the Chief Minister also pointed out that the enhanced amount of Rs 5,000 per acre as relief would be soon paid by the State Government to the farmers besides 10% of this amount would be paid to the farm labourers.
Thanking the Chief Minister, BKU Ugrahan Chief Joginder Singh Ugrahan who called on the former in this regard said this much needed relief to the farmers and labourers would immensely help them to overcome the financial loss suffered by them on this count.
Equipped with latest technological information and machinery etc to provide all facilities to the horticulturists, Punjab Government will establish Estates in states four districts Ferozepur, Gurdaspur, Faridkot, and Ludhiana. These estates will help the horticulturists in producing high quality fruits and cutting cost of fruit production, said the states Horticulture, Food Processing, Ex-Serviceman Welfare and Welfare of Freedom Fighters.
Minister Fauja Singh Sarari while sharing the information during a meeting with the Horticulture Department officials. The Minister, addressing the heads of different districts, instructed them to bring maximum area under horticulture crops by motivating the farmers to come out of the current wheat-paddy crop cycle. He also asked the horticulture officials to create awareness to save the groundwater which is going down day-by-day in Punjab, adding that the best performing officers in this regard will be honoured at the state level.
A sudden surge in the cases of mucormycosis during the second wave of the Covid-19 pandemic was probably due to a compromise in immunity, along with thrombotic microangiopathy among the infected patients, according to a latest Punjab-based study published in European Archives of Oto-Rhino-Laryngology.
Thrombotic microangiopathies refer to the destruction of red blood cells, low platelets and organ damage due to the formation of blood clots arteries.
With an aim to evaluate the disease presentation, patterns of spread, and its association with the Covid-19 virus, the study was conducted on patients undergoing surgery for invasive fungal at a tertiary care centre in Punjab, between March and July this year. Out of 34 patients, who underwent surgery for invasive fungal sinusitis, an inflammation of the sinuses, 31 21 men and 10 Women were diagnosed with mucormycosis. All the patients were either tested positive for Covid on presentation or had contracted the infection in the prior months. Some of them had radiological evidence of past infection with the virus.
Taking ahead its farm loanwaiverscheme,Punjabgovernment has decided to extend a Rs 590-crore waiver tolandlessfarmers, farm labourers, and SC/BC beneficiaries. Chief ministerCapt Amarinder Singhwill virtually launch the disbursal ofdebtwaiver and cheques will be provided to beneficiaries in their respective districts.
The waiver, up to Rs 20,000 per beneficiary, will be handed over to farmers/labourers, who have availed loans from district for being members of primary Agriculture-notes-for-state-psc-exams”>Agriculture Cooperative Societies (PACS). In all, a benefit of Rs 520 crore will be extended to 2.85 lakh landless farmers and labourers. The remaining will be provided to 7,600 beneficiaries belonging to scheduled castes and backward classes.
In all, the State Government has provided a debt waiver of Rs 4624 crore to 5.64 lakh small and marginal farmers.
Punjabchief minister Bhagwant Mann claimed that the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) had evinced interest in building aspace museumin the state.
He said the project will have the support of his government to promote science in the state. He broke the news to 30 bright students, 15 boys and girls each, who the had selected from its schools of eminence for a trip to ISRO centre at Sriharikota for watching the live launching of Chandrayaan III mission to the moon.