The provincial government has taken a number of practical steps for the development and prosperity of the farming community and earmarked a huge amount in the budget for the year 2007-08 for this purpose.
Addressing the farmers at Kot Radha Kisshan near here on Sunday, Chairman Punjab Assembly Standing Committee on Irrigation, Sardar Shaukat Ali Dogar said that the government was also taking measures to ensure the availability of irrigation water at tails.
He said that the Provincial Cooperative Bank and Bank of Punjab are providing loans worth Rs 15 billion to the farmers on easy terms and conditions to increase per acre yield of crops. He added that the government had also provided loans of Rs 6 billion for the development of livestock sector to meet the milk and meat demand.
All the water coursers are being bricklined under phased programme and in the first phase Rs 60 billion are being spent on this project while for the second phase funds are also being provided. Sardar Shaukat said that centuries old irrigation system was being up-graded and Rs 120 billion would be spent on this project during next ten years.