Punjab Govt expands kharif maize project to 16 districts
Punjab will expand its kharif maize diversification scheme to 16 districts in 2026-27, offering ₹17,500 per hectare to shift farmers from paddy. Targeting 20,000 hectares, the initiative aims to conserve groundwater, with subsidies linked to geo-tagged verification and phased payments through government portals.
The Punjab Government has decided to expand of its kharif maize diversification scheme from six to 16 districts during the 2026-27 season, with a financial incentive of Rs 17,500 per hectare. The move aims at weaning farmers away from water-guzzling paddy.
The decision follows an “encouraging response” to a pilot project implemented in six districts during 2025-26, according to Agriculture and Farmers Welfare Minister Gurmeet Singh Khudian. It was a step towards arresting the state’s depleting water table, he added.
Khudian said the target was to bring 20,000 hectares (50,000 acres) under kharif maize in Amritsar, Bathinda, Fatehgarh Sahib, Gurdaspur, Hoshiarpur, Jalandhar, Kapurthala, Ludhiana, Moga, Patiala, Pathankot, Rupnagar, Sangrur, SAS Nagar, SBS Nagar and Tarn Taran.
Farmers would get a subsidy of Rs 17,500 per hectare. Out of that amount, Rs 4,500 would be released on the submission of input bills at the block agriculture office, while the remaining Rs 13,000 would be paid in two instalments after mandatory geo-tagged crop verification, he added.
Urging the farmers to adopt kharif maize cultivation to save groundwater, the minister said interested farmers could register on the government portal (https://agrimachinerypb.com). Mandatory J-form and geo-tagging of the field would be required to confirm the applicant grew paddy last year and was switching to maize this year.
The minister said verification would be done in two phases through the Unnat Kisan portal—first from July 15 to 25 and then from August 5 to 15. After each verification, the district Chief Agriculture Officer would release Rs 9,500 and Rs 7,500 per hectare, respectively.
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Source : The Tribune
