LAHORE:
Punjab Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz has approved the launch of the ‘Muhammad Nawaz Sharif Kissan Card’ to provide subsidised farm inputs to farmers.
Chairing a meeting on agricultural reforms for the second day, the chief minister said, “Muhammad Nawaz Sharif Kissan Card project in Punjab is the biggest in the history of Pakistan.”
Under the project, agricultural loans worth Rs150 billion will be provided to 500,000 small farmers on easy terms. Farmers will be given loan of Rs 30,000 per acre for purchasing best quality seeds, fertilisers and pesticides.
The chief minister said, “Various types of other subsidies will also be provided to the farmers through the Nawaz Sharif Kissan Card.”
She said, “Model Agriculture Centres (MAC) will be established across Punjab in collaboration with the private sector. These model agriculture centers will have modern agricultural machinery, training, pesticide, seeds and demonstration plots.”
She added, “In the first phase, one model agriculture centre will be set up in each district. Farmers will get rid of fake fertilisers and medicines.”
Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz Sharif directed the agriculture department to compile complete data of production and demand of each crop. She approved a proposal to set up a state-of-the-art centre of excellence for research and development on cotton, wheat and rice crops. She agreed to run the administrative affairs of the centre through a board and link the research centres with the universities in their regions.
The chief minister also issued directives to build a research and development centre at a cost of Rs2 billion in the Agriculture University Faisalabad with the cooperation of China.
The Pak-China R&D Centre will have genome, germplasm resource, speed breeding and climate change research facilities.
Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz also directed the officials concerned to present amendments to the Agriculture Pesticides Act and the Fertilizers Control Act to prevent the sale of spurious agricultural drugs and fertilizers. She reviewed the restructuring of the Punjab Seed Corporation and Punjab Agricultural Research Board.
A proposal to introduce a law to prevent the use of agricultural land for residential purposes was also considered in the meeting.
The chief minister agreed to equip the Agricultural Extension Wing with modern technology and recruit 500 agriculture graduates.
Earlier, she was informed during a briefing that 24,800 latest agricultural implements will be provided to farmers at a cost of Rs7 billion in two years.
Published in The Express Tribune, March 30th, 2024.
