LAHORE: Terming agriculture sector as backbone of the national economy, Special Assistant to Chief Minister Punjab on Information and Spokesperson to the Punjab Government Hasaan Khawar said on Monday that farmers were benefiting from projects worth Rs. 300 billion under the Prime Minister’s Agricultural Emergency Program.

“Buzdar Government is providing insurance cover to farmers in 27 districts of Punjab to offset the effects of climate change, natural calamities and locust infestation on cotton, paddy and wheat crops,” the SACM said, adding: “apart from paying Rs. 2 billion as premium to the insurance companies, the Punjab government has provided interest free loans of over Rs. 64 billion to the farmers.”

Hasaan Khawar maintained that the Punjab government is providing 50% subsidy on modern drip irrigation system and 60% subsidy on solar system. More than 1200 laser land levelers have also been provided to the farmers on subsidy, he said.

He also said that 147 new varieties of different crops have been approved for cultivation under Punjab Seed Council. The Agriculture Task Force confiscated counterfeit and substandard pesticides and fertilizers worth millions of rupees and tightened the noose around 20 factories involved in the trade of such substandard items.

During the last three and a half years, more than 98,000 acres of barren land has been made cultivable, he said. For the first time in the history of the country, more than 2.9 million tonnes of wheat has been produced in the year 2020-21 while the average production of sugarcane has increased from 676 to 742 maunds per acre. Unveiling revolutionary measures taken by the Punjab government in the field of agriculture, he said that for the first time in the history of Punjab, an agricultural policy was formulated under the leadership of Chief Minister Punjab Sardar Usman Buzdar. He maintained that introduction of Kisan Card has enabled digital literacy in rural areas, facilitated direct cash transfer and timely purchase of fertilizers, seeds and other agricultural equipments at discounted rates. He said that more than one million registered farmers were receiving subsidy of billions of rupees annually through this transparent system.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2022