Karnal, May 27 -- Haryana chief minister (CM) Nayab Singh Saini on Monday urged the farmers to avoid excessive use of chemical fertilisers and pesticides in their crops. Motivating farmers to adopt natural farming, the CM said that this not only maintains the soil fertility, but also has a positive impact on the environment and health. "To encourage natural farming, the Haryana government is providing subsidy of up to Rs.30,000 to farmers on the purchase of a desi cow, so that they can move towards sustainable agriculture by adopting cow-based organic methods," Saini said. The CM was addressing a gathering after inaugurating the Government Veterinary Polyclinic in Biholi village of Kurukshetra district. CM also announced Rs.21 lakh for the development of the village. "This polyclinic will have services like pathology, parasitology, gynaecology, microbiology, surgery, ultrasound, X-ray as well as indoor and outdoor units. Also, this institute will be equipped with expert veterinary officers, technicians and support staff, which will establish it as an ideal veterinary centre," he added. He said that at present six government veterinary polyclinics are running in the state -- Sirsa, Jind, Rohtak, Bhiwani, Sonipat and Rewari. He said that at present, 49 government veterinary hospitals and 72 government veterinary dispensaries are running in district Kurukshetra, out of which 51 posts of veterinary doctors, 47 posts, and out of130 posts of VLDA, 119 are filled. "The state government is constantly working for the protection and promotion of cows. In the last 10 years, about 650 cow shelters have been opened in the state. Before the year 2014, the government's budget for cow shelters was only Rs.2 crore, whereas today the present government has increased this budget to more than Rs.500 crore," he added. Referring to the development works taken up in Ladwa assembly constituency that he represents as an MLA, Saini said that from 2024 till now, the development worth about Rs.110 crore has been completed and some are in process. Agriculture and farmers welfare minister Shyam Singh Rana said natural farming is being done on about 180 acres of land in the Gurukul campus, which is an inspiring model and farmers should learn from this model and adopt natural farming. The government is giving a subsidy of up to Rs.30,000 on the purchase of a local cow and government will also build a market to ensure that the produce produced through natural farming gets the right price, he added. Later in the day, the chief minister also laid the foundation stone of modern cow hospital at Mathana Gauvansh Dham and Research Centre, where a budget of about Rs.6 crore will be spent on the project. Saini announced a grant of Rs.21 lakh rupees for its construction....