Encourage agriculture diversification: Badal to Arun Jaitley

Stressing on the need to encourage agriculture diversification programme, Punjab Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal today said Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley should treat animal husbandry at par with agriculture for income tax exemption.

This will motivate a majority of farmers for taking up allied farming on one hand and promote diversification of agriculture on the other, Badal added.

In a letter to the Union Finance Minister, Badal apprised Jaitley of the agriculture sector gradually becoming un-remunerative and thus agriculture diversification was a need of the hour, an official release said.

He cited animal husbandry could emerge as a strong viable alternative.

However, this could only happen if this sector was incentivised on the same lines as agriculture, he added.

Since agriculture was a major source of livelihood to the majority of Indian population and henceforth the Centre had been providing various incentives and subsidy to this sector, added Badal.