Observer Report Rawalpindi
Minister for Agriculture, Punjab Syed Hussain Jahanian Gardezi while giving a special message on World Food Day said that ‘October 16’ is celebrated every year as “World Food Day” on the call of UN Food and Agriculture Organization.
The aim is to highlight food and agriculture issues in the world and to draw attention to strategies for their solution.
The provincial agriculture minister added that this year the theme of World Food Day has been proposed by the Food and Agriculture Organization as “Our actions – mirrors the bright future: better production, better nutrition, safer environment and prosperous life”.
At present, a large segment of the world’s population is deprived of nutritious food due to which the health care system is under constant pressure.
In addition, climate change has affected the agricultural sector in many countries, including Pakistan, and farmers the cost of production has also increased.
The present Government of Pakistan is striving for food self-sufficiency. The present Government has started formulating and implementing farmer friendly policies with agriculture as its top priority after coming to power.
The results have started coming out and in the financial year 2020-21, the production of wheat, rice, sugarcane, maize, potato, moong and sesame in Punjab has increased to a record level.
Government of Punjab has allocated Rs. 25.50 Billion to ensure increase in production of food commodities.
In order to reduce the production cost of farmers, Government of Punjab is also providing financial resources for the purchase of fertilizers, seeds, agrochemicals and subsidy on crop insurance besides providing interest free agricultural loans which will not only increase the yield per acre but also food quality improved.
