Chandigarh, May 3 (PTI) In a push to promote crop diversification and encourage farmers to shift away from water-guzzling paddy, the Punjab government has decided to expand its Kharif maize cultivation scheme from six to 16 districts for the 2026-27 season with an incentive of Rs 17,500 per hectare.
The decision follows an “encouraging response” to a pilot project implemented in six districts during 2025-26, Agriculture and Farmers Welfare Minister Gurmeet Singh Khudian said on Sunday, while terming the expansion a “decisive step” to arrest the state’s depleting groundwater levels.
Khudian said that the scheme targets 20,000 hectares (50,000 acres) of Kharif maize across Amritsar, Bathinda, Fatehgarh Sahib, Gurdaspur, Hoshiarpur, Jalandhar, Kapurthala, Ludhiana, Moga, Patiala, Pathankot, Rupnagar, Sangrur, SAS Nagar, SBS Nagar and Tarn Taran.
Farmers will receive a subsidy of Rs 17,500 per hectare, the same as last year. Of this, Rs 4,500 will be released upon submission of input bills at the block agriculture office, while the remaining Rs 13,000 will be paid in two instalments after mandatory geo-tagged crop verification, he added.
Urging the state farmers to adopt the Kharif maize cultivation to save the precious groundwater resources, the minister said that interested farmers can register on the government’s designated portal and a mandatory J-form and geo-tagging of the field will be required to confirm the applicant grew paddy last year and is switching to maize this year.
Khudian further said that verification will be done in two phases through the Unnat Kisan Portal — first from July 15 to 25, followed by the second from August 5 to 15, 2026.
After each verification, the district chief agriculture officer will release Rs 9,500 and Rs 7,500 per hectare, respectively.
The entire process– from registration to verification– has been digitised to ensure transparency and timely disbursal of subsidy to eligible and right beneficiaries seamlessly, the minister emphasised.
Khudian has directed field staff to launch mass awareness campaigns to sensitise farmers about the scheme.
He said Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann-led government is focused on making maize a viable long-term alternative to paddy by pairing financial support of Rs 17,500 per hectare with an assured procurement mechanism.
The two-crop (paddy-wheat) cycle is no longer sustainable. This scheme is not just about replacing a crop, it is about securing Punjab’s water table and ensuring the state farmers’ profitability, he stressed. PTI SUN KVK KVK
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