Punjab News- Forest department sets target to plant 1.5 crore saplings under agro forestry: Jayani

Chandigarh, September 16, 2013: The Punjab government would plant 1.5 crore saplings in the state so as to encourage Agro forestry among the peasantry to desist them from the cultivation of wheat and paddy.

Disclosing this here today, Surjit Kumar Jayani, Forest and Wild Life Preservation Minister, Punjab said that the state government has chalked out a plan to decrease the area under paddy cultivation there by encouraging the farmers for the cultivation of others cash crops.  He said that under this plan agro forestry would be promoted over an area of 3 lac hectare in the state. He further said that the department would provide the saplings of Eucalyptus and Popular to the farmers as these plants grow at faster pace without any extra efforts and expenditure and provide substantial earnings for the farmers.  He said that state of the art wood markets would be set up in Hoshiarpur, Balachaur and Ludhiana to help the farmers to fetch justifiable rates for the wood.

He added that in a major boost to timber trade in the state, the Punjab Government has decided to abolish the Rural Development Fee (RDF) being levied on the purchase of wood from the Wood Market (Lakkar Mandi) Yard in the state.

He further said that the seminars would also be organised at village level to educate the farmers to adopt for Argo Forestry.