2 schemes, 2 yrs and counting: How Punjab forgot to start crop diversification projects it announced

Indian Express

25-04-2025

Even as Punjab seeks to diversify from its paddy-wheat cycle and promote high-value horticulture crops, two key schemes announced by the state government to support this transition remain unimplemented, months and even years after funds were allocated for the same.
In its 2024-25 budget, the government announced the Punjab Horticulture Advancement and Sustainable Entrepreneurship (PHASE) scheme with an allocation of Rs 5 crore. In its earlier budget, (in 2023-24), the government had proposed a price risk mitigation scheme titled Bhav Antar Bhugtan Yojana to cushion horticulture growers against market price fluctuations.
However, neither has any work started on the ground for the two schemes nor has there been any mention of the two in the recent budget.
In 13 years, area under horticulture crops nearly doubled
While the PHASE scheme, launched on March 17, 2024, aimed to encourage entrepreneurship and investment in the horticulture sector and support for small and marginal farmers willing to shift to fruit and vegetable cultivation, the Bhav Antar Bhugtan Yojana promises compensation to farmers when sale price of their produce drops below Minimum Support Price (MSP) or the price fixed by the state.
As part of PHASE, the department announced the formation of a chilli cluster in Ferozepur with the goal of increasing efficiency in the value chain, improving marketing, and encouraging crop diversification. It is learnt that department officials held a few meetings with chilli farmers in Ferozepur, but no significant progress has been made since. Officials have also not been able to clarify a timeline for its implementation.
Government sources said that a committee was to be formed to study PHASE scheme, howver, to date, no such committee has been constituted.
A senior officer in the horticulture department said, 'Chilli growers in Punjab have been doing well on their own with minimal government support, but this scheme could have been implemented earlier. The government seems more focused on paperwork than addressing hurdles on the ground.'
While Minister for Horticulture Mohinder Bhagat could not be contacted, farm expert Ramandeep Singh said that it seems the government has made it a mandate to announce one such programme in every budget only to forget about it later.
'The government has been announcing one 'jumla' after another in the name of diversification, but real diversification remains a distant dream. It's one thing to announce schemes and quite another to deliver them on the ground. Proper implementation needs timely clearances and structural readiness,' Ramandeep added.
Director of the Horticulture Department Shailender Kaur said that they are doing their best to implement PHASE scheme as soon as possible. 'Several processes are involved, and we are clearing them one by one,' she said.
Under the Bhav Antar Bhugtan Yojana, crops such as potato, cauliflower, tomato, and capsicum were shortlisted for MSP coverage, but it was never officially announced.
Sources said that the department despite operating at just 25 per cent of its sanctioned strength is pushing farmers for diversification.
Over the past decade, the area under horticulture in Punjab has expanded by 42 per cent from 2,78,583 hectares (6.88 lakh acres) in 2011-12 to 482,000 hectares (11.91 lakh acres) in 2023-24.
Horticulture currently accounts for only 6.16% of Punjab's gross cropped area, which stands at 7.826 million hectares. Yet its economic contribution is disproportionately high. According to the state horticulture department, the value of horticultural produce reached Rs 26,580.38 crore in 2023-24, comprising 17.03% of Punjab's agricultural GDP, which totals Rs 1,56,068.46 crore.
Despite the rising demand and profitability of fruits, vegetables, and flowers, diversification efforts have consistently been hampered by price volatility, lack of storage and processing infrastructure, and the absence of assured procurement — precisely the challenges the delayed PHASE and Bhav Antar Bhugtan Yojana schemes were designed to address.
Both schemes had offered a ray of hope for farmers battling sudden price crashes. But without timely implementation, their very purpose is defeated, said a officer.
As the next paddy season approaches, all eyes are on the government. Stakeholders are keenly awaiting clarity on whether these long-promised schemes will finally see the light of day.
Apart from horticultural schemes, a senior official in the Punjab Agriculture Department revealed that the government had also planned to announce MSP for Basmati at Rs 2,625 per quintal.
Under this plan, procurement would begin only if market rates fell below the announced MSP. However, despite having drawn up the proposal, MSP was never formally declared.
Meanwhile, farmers and agricultural experts are expressing growing concern that repeated delays in implementing such schemes are discouraging farmers from pursuing diversification — a shift considered crucial to tackling Punjab's groundwater crisis and agrarian distress.