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LAHORE, Mar 17 (APP):Punjab Agriculture Minister Syed Ashiq Hussain Kirmani said on Monday that Punjab Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz was determined to promote agricultural mechanization in the province.
He said this while presiding over a high-level meeting held at Agriculture House on Monday. The meeting reviewed the arrangements for the upcoming event under the Chief Minister’s Grow More Wheat Programme.
He said 1,000 tractors would be provided free of cost to farmers through a transparent balloting process.
Meeting also finalized various welfare projects for farmers, to be included in the upcoming provincial budget.
During the meeting, the Agriculture Minister revealed that 57,733 applications were received under the Grow More Wheat Programme, out of which 21,496 applicants were declared eligible after verification.
Tractors of 50-horsepower would be allotted through a transparent draw to farmers cultivating wheat on more than 12.5 acres, he said and added that the balloting ceremony would be held under the supervision of the Punjab CM.
The Minister further said that the Agriculture Extension department has verified wheat cultivation on 560,000 acres under this programme. The Punjab government was committed to promote agricultural mechanization, allocating Rs 35 billion in financing over the next two years.
Farmers and service providers would receive interest-free agricultural loans of up to Rs 50 million through banks.
He said that additionally, 1,000 high-tech machines would be provided through interest-free loans over the next two years, benefiting small-scale service providers. This programme would help increase the production of wheat, rice, orchards and maize crops and would be launched as a pilot project in the next fiscal budget, he added.
Speaking about the Kisan Card initiative, the Minister said that 539,000 farmers had benefited from the first phase. In the second phase, farmers owning up to 25 acres would be included. Moreover, the per-acre loan limit under the Kisan Card would be increased to Rs 40,000 and processing fee would be reduced, he added.
He said, “The Punjab government has allocated Rs 75 billion for the second phase of the Kisan Card. This initiative would also facilitate the purchase of agricultural inputs, including diesel. Under Phase 1 of the Green Tractor Programme, 9,000 farmers have already received tractors. In the next fiscal year, 9,500 tractors (ranging from 60 to 85 horsepower) would be distributed under Phase 2 of the programme.”
He further said that additionally, under the Solarization of Agricultural Tube Wells Programme, 8,000 farmers had already received allocation letters through a digital balloting system and twelve service and supply companies were on-board for this initiative.
Furthermore, 80% of the construction for four Model Agriculture Malls in Punjab had been completed.
Syed Ashiq Hussain Kirmani said that Punjab government was also considering constructing ten more Model Agriculture Malls in the next budget and added that 2,000 agricultural graduates would be recruited for internships in the upcoming fiscal year.
Speaking at the meeting, Punjab Agriculture Secretary Iftikhar Ali Sahu emphasized that modern machinery was essential to achieve agricultural production targets.