Human Resource – Utilisation in the Various Sectors

In the state of the Punjab, the farmers are very highly dependent on the cultivation of the intensive wheat and the rice and this factor has led to the adverse environmental consequences in the form of the rapid ground water depletion and the soil degradation. Also the changing patterns of the consumption of the house holds towards the high value horticulture product like the various types of the vegetables and the fruits, the dairy products, the animal products, are some of the new profitable alternatives to the farmers. The government of the state of the Punjab has been in the recent times making special and the continuous efforts in order to boost and further encourage the diversification of the crop in the state and this is mainly being done by laying a lots of the emphasis and the focus on the diversification in the maize, the sugar cane, the farm forestry, the cotton by providing the various types of the incentives to the farmers in order to make the agriculture more and more economical in the nature. The Punjab agro food grains corporation PAFC has been successfully bringing and hence in the other words increasing the area under the basmati, the hyola, the sun flower, the malting barley, the maize through the contract farming. An initiative or a scheme in other words started by the government of the state of the Punjab in order to boost and also encourage the diversification of the crops with the help of the development of the horticulture is being implemented. Five citrus estates have been set up and the new varieties of the citrus fruits are being supplied to the farmers.

Also a large amount of the emphasis is also being laid just to support the development of the commercial dairy farming in the state of the Punjab. Also the capital assistance is being provided on the construction of the animal housing and the subsidy on the insurance premium. Four maize drying units have been installed and the three more units are being set up. The Punjab mandi board has established 19 specialised mandis of the cotton and these all are having all the major facilities like the grading labs, the farmer information centres etc. A project has also been initiated by the government of the state of the Punjab in order to mechanise the cotton production system from the first step of the sowing to the last step up to the mark of the picking. The horticulture development board is also being set up in the state of the Punjab to promote the development of the citrus, the guava, the litchi and the pear fruits. The hi – tech vegetable seedling nurseries are proposed for the districts of the Patiala, the Atari, the birr charik in the city of the moga. A modern air conditioned fruit and the vegetable market has been set up at the mohali. The government of the state of the Punjab has also proposed and initiated a plan for setting up of the multi product mega food park in about the 200 acres of the land at the ladhowal. A centre of the excellence for the citrus has been set up at the khan aura, the hoshiarpur in the collaboration with the government of the Israel. A centre of the excellence for the vegetable cultivation has been set up on the 15 acres of the land at kartarpur, jalandhar in the collaboration with the government of the Israel. Also a centre of the excellence for the potato is being set up at the dhogri in the district of the jalandhar under the indo-Dutch agreement. It is proposed to modernise the existing cold stores which have the bunker system in the next 3 years.

The state of the Punjab in India has been found to be having sub tropical monsoon climate and as a result of this it is seen to be enjoying hot dry summers and cool dry winters and this type of the climate is very suitable for the cultivation of the wide range of the fruits like the citrus, the mango, the grapes, the peach, the ber, the guava etc. the production and the area wise, the first highest is the vegetables except the potatoes and the second highest is the potatoes and the third highest is the fruits. The only vegetables that are currently being processed are the potatoes and the tomatoes mainly for the chips and the sauce respectively. Kin now comprises nearly 50 percent of the Punjab’s production of the fruit. The government of the state of the Punjab has established a good no of the estates of the horticulture.

The allied sectors which include the animal husbandry, the dairy, the fishery etc involve the activities of the agriculture that in the recent times have become independent activities of the economy. The animal husbandry plays an important role in the Punjab state’s rural economy. This sector has a great potential for giving a major required push to the agricultural income of the farmers in the state of the Punjab. To boost this sector, following steps are being taken by the government of the Punjab. The large no of the advisory boards have been set up for the dairy, the piggery, the goatry, the fisheries. The constructions of the new buildings of the veterinary hospitals, the dispensaries and the up gradation of the existing buildings have been under taken. 3 new veterinary poly clinics are being constructed in the districts of the pathankot, the barnala and the fazilka. The guru angad dev veterinary and the animal sciences university (GADVASU), Ludhiana is also playing a very important and a leading role in the creation of the skilled man power for the fishery, the poultry, the piggery, the artificial insemination, the dairy. The infra structure of the GADVASU is being developed and strengthened. The special efforts are being made for the development of the sheep, the pig, and the poultry in the state of the Punjab. The subsidy would be provided for setting up the automatic milk dispensing units. For renting out the costly machinery five dairy service centres would be established. In order to improve the breed of the cattle and then finally enhance the production of the milk 4.25 frozen semen straws have been imported from the America and the Canada. 50000 straws of the sexed semen were also imported. For the improvement of the breed, the cattle breeding farm at the rauni in the district of the Patiala is being established and the semen bank in the nabha in the district of the Patiala is being upgraded. A new veterinary college is proposed to be established at the rampuraphul in the district of the bathinda. MOU is being signed with the republic of the china for the promotion of the sector of the fisheries. A regional research centre for the fisheries would be established at the village Jodhpur rumana in the district of the bathinda. The modern hygienic whole sale markets of the fish have been set up at Ludhiana and the same type of the markets would be set up at the bathinda district and the Amritsar district. The government of the Punjab has proposed an allocation of the Rs 451 crore for the animal husbandry sector and Rs 20 crore for the GADVASU. The rural debts in the state of the Punjab estimated to be Rs 35000 crore, have assumed the proportions of a grave human tragedy. As per the NSSO survey, nearly half the farm house holds in the country are facing debt burden. The no of the indebted farm house holds in the state of the Punjab was 66 percent, third highest in the country after Andhra Pradesh and the Tamil nadu. The net area under the irrigation in the state of the Punjab is 4078000 hectares and about 99 percent of the net area sown is irrigated. The main sources of the irrigation in the state are the tube wells followed by the canals. The tube wells account to about the 72.5 percent as the source and the canals account to about the 27.5 percent of the source.

The government of the state of the Punjab has accorded the high priority to the revamping of the canal net work in the state. The main focus is to reduce the dependence on the under ground water and then utilise the water of the surface for carrying on the various types of the purposes of the irrigation just by following the increase in the capacity of the canal, lining of the unlined water courses and the construction of the low cost dams in the various hilly areas. An amount of Rs 1005 crore has been ear marked for the irrigation in the year of the 2015-2016. the important schemes that are corresponding to this parameters involve the Rs 134 crore for the relining of the Rajasthan feeder project and the cost of this project is about Rs 952 crore to be completed in a span of the 4 years from the year of the 2015 to the year of the 2019. Rs 100 crore for the relining of the sir hind project of the feeder (Project cost is of Rs 614 crore to be completed in the span of the 4 years from the year of the 2015 to the year of the 2019.) Rs 83 crore for the completion of the remaining 14 km of the kandli canal phase 2 project and then other is the sanction of Rs 50 crore for the construction of the shahpurkandi dam project and the cost of this project is about Rs 2286 crore including the component of the power that has to be completed in the span of the three years from the year of the 2015 to the year of the 2018. Rs 135 crore for the re-construction of the distributaries in the state of the Punjab and further Rs 211 crore for the construction and the lining of the courses of the water and Rs 50 crore for the re-construction of the channels of the field of the various distributaries in the state of the Punjab. Rs 190 crore for the anti water logging and the protection of the flood which is included. Also Rs 180 crore for the anti water logging measures in the south western districts of the Punjab. Rs 15 crore for the cleaning of the various canals of the state of the Punjab and also Rs 55 crore collected on account of the water cess that will be spent on the maintenance, the repair and the modernization of the minors and the distributaries of the state of the Punjab. Early plantation of the paddy has been banned and the efforts are being made to shift from the paddy to the alternate crops and to wean the farmers from burning of the paddy straw, machines like the happy seeders, the rotavators, the zero till drills, bakers and the rakes have been provided 50 percent of the subsidy to the farmers by the government of the state of the Punjab. The government of the India had announced debt waiver scheme for the farmers in the year 2008-2009 but the farmers of the state of the Punjab did not benefit much as there are less no of the small and the marginal farmers and the few defaulters in the state. The government of the state of the Punjab had earlier commissioned a study on the suicide by the farmers and the farm labour through the three universities in the state. Rs 94 crore has been distributed during the year of the 2012-2014 covering 4688 affected families since 2000-2011. The universities have been asked to collect the fresh data from the march 2011 to the march 2013. To take care of the families of the farmers, the government of the state of the Punjab has provided Rs 20 crore as the compensation to the families of the farmers who have committed the suicides.