Kapurthala October 6,2025<\/p>\n
Senior Congress leader and Kapurthala MLA Rana Gurjeet Singh today reaffirmed his commitment to the farming community by announcing the start of maize procurement in the region.
\n Addressing media persons, he stated that the procurement will begin as promised earlier this year when the maize crop was sown across thousands of hectares.<\/p>\n
“I had assured the farmers that maize procurement will be ensured at the time of harvest. Today, I am here to fulfil that promise,” said Rana Gurjeet Singh. “We will lift every grain of maize that farmers have cultivated, and the crop will be procured at a Minimum Support Price (MSP) of \u20b92400 per quintal, in line with government specifications.”<\/p>\n
Responding to a media query, the veteran legislator said he is working to guide both farmers and the Punjab government in a new direction. \u201cWe must look ahead. The state needs leadership that not only supports the farmers today but also safeguards their future,\u201d he said.
\nHe also referred to a recent statement by cabinet minister Barinder Goyal in the Punjab Vidhan Sabha, during special session last week which revealed that only 50\u201354 percent of canal water is currently being utilised, while the hopes to take the utilization potential up to 74 percent. \u201cI strongly support the cultivation of monsoon maize, but if canal water is going to waste, spring maize is a more sustainable and profitable option,\u201d said Rana.
\nHighlighting the economic benefit, he added, \u201cMaize offers returns that are 2 to 2.5 times higher than wheat. I\u2019ve been raising the issue that canal water, which could support such crops, is not being fully utilised.\u201d
\nRana Gurjeet Singh also expressed concern over the falling yield of paddy in Punjab. \u201cLoose smut disease has affected at least 25 percent of the paddy crop this season. Farmers are going to suffer losses. We need to rethink our cropping patterns,\u201d he warned. He informed the media that Sultanpur Lodhi MLA Rana Inder Partap Singh has raised the matter in the Vidhan Sabha and hoped that the government will take corrective steps to support the farmers.
\nDrawing attention to Punjab\u2019s alarming groundwater depletion, he stressed the need for urgent action. \u201cThe Central Ground Water Board has warned that Punjab could turn into a desert in the next 25 years if subsoil water is not recharged. In some areas, water levels have dropped as low as 500 feet. On average, the level is falling by one metre every year,\u201d he said.
\nRana Gurjeet Singh proposed using excess floodwater from catchment areas in Himachal Pradesh and Jammu to recharge groundwater. \u201cFloodwater must be seen as a resource. The excess water flowing into dams from these regions during monsoon should be used to replenish our subsoil reserves,\u201d he said.
\nHe called for the constitution of an expert committee comprising top scientists from India and abroad to undertake satellite mapping and flood pattern analysis. \u201cWe need to know how much water is coming from which region, which region has suffered and how to manage and regulate it. The committee should submit a detailed report to help us take corrective steps,\u201d he added.
\nCiting recurring floods in 2019, 2023, and now in 2025, he said Punjab must prepare for future climate-induced disasters. \u201cThe recent floods have shown that we need a robust system. Whether it\u2019s water release from Ranjit Sagar Dam (RSD) or sudden inflows from khuds in the catchment areas, there must be a well-planned mechanism in place,\u201d said Rana. The Kapurthala MLA reiterated that a proactive and scientific approach is essential to protect Punjab\u2019s agriculture and environment. \u201cWe owe it to our farmers and future generations,\u201d he said<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Kapurthala October 6,2025 Senior Congress leader and Kapurthala MLA Rana Gurjeet Singh today reaffirmed his commitment to the farming community by announcing the start of maize procurement in the region. Addressing media persons, he stated that the procurement will begin as promised earlier this year when the maize crop was sown across thousands of hectares. […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":64376,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jnews-multi-image_gallery":[],"jnews_single_post":{"subtitle":"","format":"standard","video":"","gallery":"","source_name":"","source_url":"","via_name":"","via_url":"","override_template":"0","override":[{"template":"1","single_blog_custom":"","parallax":"1","fullscreen":"1","layout":"right-sidebar","sidebar":"default-sidebar","second_sidebar":"default-sidebar","sticky_sidebar":"1","share_position":"top","share_float_style":"share-monocrhome","show_share_counter":"1","show_view_counter":"1","show_featured":"1","show_post_meta":"1","show_post_author":"1","show_post_author_image":"1","show_post_date":"1","post_date_format":"default","post_date_format_custom":"Y\/m\/d","show_post_category":"1","show_post_reading_time":"0","post_reading_time_wpm":"300","show_zoom_button":"0","zoom_button_out_step":"2","zoom_button_in_step":"3","show_post_tag":"1","show_prev_next_post":"1","show_popup_post":"1","number_popup_post":"1","show_author_box":"0","show_post_related":"0","show_inline_post_related":"0"}],"override_image_size":"0","image_override":[{"single_post_thumbnail_size":"crop-500","single_post_gallery_size":"crop-500"}],"trending_post":"0","trending_post_position":"meta","trending_post_label":"Trending","sponsored_post":"0","sponsored_post_label":"Sponsored by","sponsored_post_name":"","sponsored_post_url":"","sponsored_post_logo_enable":"0","sponsored_post_logo":"","sponsored_post_desc":"","disable_ad":"0"},"jnews_primary_category":{"id":"","hide":""},"footnotes":""},"categories":[9852,14176,20,16185,1],"tags":[40627,4956,40552,11714],"class_list":["post-64375","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-breaking","category-cover-story","category-india","category-national","category-punjab","tag-kapurthala-mla-rana-gurjeet-singh","tag-punjab-government","tag-rana-gurjeet-singh","tag-senior-congress-leader"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/presskitaquat.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/64375","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/presskitaquat.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/presskitaquat.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/presskitaquat.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/presskitaquat.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=64375"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/presskitaquat.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/64375\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":64377,"href":"https:\/\/presskitaquat.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/64375\/revisions\/64377"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/presskitaquat.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/64376"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/presskitaquat.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=64375"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/presskitaquat.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=64375"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/presskitaquat.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=64375"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}