A review meeting on wheat cultivation was held at the Commissioner Office, Rawalpindi, under the chairmanship of Minister for Agriculture & Livestock Punjab Syed Ashiq Hussain Kirmani. The meeting was attended by MPA Malik Iftikhar Ahmed, Commissioner Rawalpindi Division Engineer Amir Khattak, Directors General of Agriculture Abdul Hameed, Naveed Asmat Kahlon and Deputy Commissioner Hassan Waqar Cheema. Additionally, MPA Bilal Yameen Satti and Deputy Commissioners from Murree, Attock, Chakwal, and Jhelum participated online.
Addressing the participants, Syed Ashiq Hussain Kirmani stated that Punjab has set a target of cultivating wheat on 16.5 million acres. To encourage farmers, the Chief Minister Punjab has announced a special incentive package worth billions of rupees. Under this package, 1,000 tractors and 1,000 laser land levelers will be provided free of cost through a transparent balloting process.
The Minister highlighted that the Rawalpindi Division was assigned a wheat cultivation target of 1.491 million acres, while cultivation has already exceeded this target, covering over 1.503 million acres. He praised the efforts of the division, noting the achievement of exceeding the target.
Minister Syed Ashiq Hussain Kirmani further shared that more than PKR 24 billion worth of DAP fertilizer has been purchased using the Kisan Card, which will contribute significantly to enhancing wheat production. Additionally, the Chief Minister Punjab has increased the number of Kisan Cards from 500,000 to 750,000.
He acknowledged the active collaboration of the divisional and district administrations with the Punjab Agriculture Department in the wheat cultivation drive.
The Minister also announced that the balloting process for 9,500 green tractors had been completed transparently, with a subsidy of PKR 1 million per tractor. Allotment letters have been issued to the farmers, who are required to deposit their share of the amount in the nearest Bank of Punjab branch by December 5. Tractors will be delivered on a first-come, first-served basis.
