‘Farmers want a fair price’
Hannan Mollah, 78, general secretary of the All India Kisan Sabha (AIKS), played a key role in the farmers movement that followed the passage of the three controversial farm laws.
In a first kind of initiative, which could pave the way for Punjab’s farmers to increase their earnings, the state government has decided to distribute around Two Lakh saplings of Sandalwood trees to them by the early 2019.
Currently, the state government has been able to conserve at least 15,000 Sandalwood trees in Punjab’s different places. Informing the same during a Press conference on Thursday, Punjab Forest minister Sadhu Singh Dharamsot said the department is consulting with the experts to identify the areas in Punjab where the growing of Sandalwood trees is feasible.
He said, at present the cost of one kilogram Sandalwood is around Rs 10,000 and the demand of Sandalwood is high in the areas of Mathura and Haridwar.
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He said that a Sandalwood tree takes at least 15 to 20 years to grow completely. “Two lakh saplings of sandalwood would be planted in Punjab to make the farmers prosper economically through crop diversification.
For this purpose, saplings are being prepared at the medicinal plant nursery in Bhatoli village in Dasuha. There are plans to get the saplings prepared at Mohali and other places. These saplings would be provided at a rate of Rs 10 to 12,” he said.
The minister said that the department has decided to establish a big saw mill in the kandi area to take the employment generation campaign of the government forward.
The project would be coming up at either Machhiwara or Hoshiarpur, which would give employment to 10,000 to 20,000 people.
“We are also consulting with the researchers who have suggested us ways to grow a Sandalwood tree in eight years, after which its wood will be ready to sell. However, the oil can be extracted from Sandalwood tree after a span of 15 years,” he said.
He also detailed that in 2015-16 the forest cover was 1,771 square kilometers which has now swelled to 1837 square kilometres.
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