ISLAMABAD: The National Assembly on Tuesday approved demands of grant of Rs 5,231,895,000 for National Food Security and Research (NFS&R) Division. Some 186 cut motions of the opposition were rejected by the House.
The demands of grant were presented to the House by Parliamentary Secretary for Finance Rana Muhammad Afzal.
Some Rs 3,711,374,000 was approved for National Food Security and Research Division and Rs 1,520,521,000 for its development expenditure.
Winding up the discussion, Federal Minister for National Food Security and Research (NFS&R) Sikandar Hayat Khan Bosan said agriculture should not be politicized and collective efforts should be made for the betterment of this sector.
Regarding cotton production, he said cotton crops as well as related research institutes were the subject of Textile Ministry. He said the Plant Breeders Rights Act would be activated within a month.
He said as many as 119 companies had contacted the government for seed production in the country.
He termed the cost of production major problem of the agriculture sector. The government had taken many initiatives by reducing prices of fertilizers, and cutting down GST on various agriculture inputs, including pesticides and tractors to promote the sector.
The minister said the production of all the main crops excluding cotton, was in surplus.
He said new institutes were being established in various areas to promote agriculture research. The provinces should also play their due role for the development of agriculture sector as after the 18th Amendment the major chunk of Public Sector Development Programme funding had been transferred to them.
He said increasing duty on imported milk was a welcome decision which was supported by this august House. The duty could be further increased.
Comments
Comments are closed.