'Government taking all possible steps towards addressing issues of farmers'

Punjab Governor Rafique Rajwana on Thursday said that the government was taking all possible steps to address the issues of farming community and to ensure quality education. He stated this while presiding over 43rd Senate meeting of the University of Agriculture Faisalabad at New Senate Hall.
He said that the agriculture was the backbone of our economy that is contributing 21 percent to the GDP of the country. He said tangible researches would pave the way to increase agricultural productivity. He said that majority of population was depending upon the agriculture sector. He said that he will suggest the government to declare Faisalabad a knowledge city to get benefit from the potential here.
It is our government commitment to serve the woes of common people in order to improve their livelihood. The food security was standing among the top agenda of government policies. He said the government had introduced Kissan Package and increased loans for farming community that is hallmark step to ensure food security.
He showed his concern that malnutrition was hitting a large number of the population which need to be addressed effectively. He said that to redress the grievances of the cotton growers about non-availability of seed, the government had formulated Punjab Seed Act. The governor said that cotton crop was a key of our agrarian economy and the government is paying its full attention to support to cotton growers and availability of quality seed as well as fair prices of their output.
He acknowledged the rankings status of UAF at international and national level. He said that no nation can make the progress without the education. UAF Vice Chancellor Professor Dr Iqrar Ahmad Khan said that although the country was having the abundant food but most of the population was malnourished. He said that it is due to unhealthy life style and dependency over two crops. The UAF had developed a new variety of cotton which is short duration and climate resilient.
He said that the UAF was working on the hybrid seed of the wheat and maize that will result in increasing the productivity. He said that the UAF was in touch with 10 million farmers through the mobile phones and internet. Commissioner Momin Agha stressed upon the need to declare the Faisalabad a knowledge city. He congratulated the government for making all-out efforts to address the problems of the farming community. Registrar Muhammad Hussain presented the agenda before the House.
The Senate also elected Dr Ijaz Bhatti and Dr Tahira Iqbal as the members of the syndicate for the three years. The Senate also approved Rs 8638.023 million budget estimates for the financial year 2016-17. The budget estimate was presented by Treasure Umer Saeed. The non-development is standing at 4233.281 million whereas Rs 34.33 million for the Water Management Research Center, non-development (Punjab government Rs 179.58 million, development fund (federal government) Rs 788 million, development fund (Punjab government) Rs 853.017 and competitive research grants Rs 2549 million.