The Punjab government released the draft of the agriculture policy on September 16. It talks about the guarantee of MSP on all crops. It also proposes pensions for farmers and laborers with less than five acres of land. It states the need to increase focus on crop diversification soon. Considering the economic condition of the farmers, there is also a proposal to start free health services and a debt settlement scheme. There is a proposal to make Punjab a hub of seeds. For this, there is a proposal to create an Agriculture Marketing Research and Intelligence Institute. The draft of the policy has been made available to the farmer unions. After getting their opinion, it will be implemented after some amendments.

Paddy cultivation will be banned in 15 blocks.

In the draft ( Punjab Agri Policy Draft ), there is a mention of banning the use of long-duration paddy varieties. There is a proposal to ban paddy cultivation in 15 water-scarce blocks of the state. Emphasis has been laid on increasing the use of micro-irrigation systems. It has been said that this will help in reducing the subsidy on electricity by 30-35 percent. There is a mention of increasing the use of agricultural pumps run by solar power instead of groundwater. It has also been recommended to increase the use of canal water for irrigation.

The focus will be on increasing the cultivation of alternative crops.

It says that in the blocks of the state where paddy cultivation will be banned, cultivation of alternative crops like cotton, maize, sugarcane, and vegetables can be increased. This can help prevent the land from becoming barren in the future. Farmers of these blocks will have to be encouraged to start cultivation of alternative crops instead of paddy. If they suffer losses initially due to the production of alternative crops, then the government will have to take measures to compensate for it.

The state government will start its own crop insurance scheme.

The draft of this agriculture policy of Punjab has been prepared by the Agriculture Policy Formulation Committee. The head of this committee is Sukhpal Singh, who is an economist. He is also the chairman of the Punjab Farmers and Farm Workers Commission. While advising to increase the focus on diversification, this policy says that the production of Basmati, cotton, sugarcane, and pulses should be increased. Also, by emphasizing on the production of alternative crops like potatoes, peas, and chilies, the quality of the soil will be maintained. The cultivation of these crops does not require much water like paddy. The Punjab government also proposes to start its own crop insurance scheme.