Staff Reporter Lahore
Punjab Chief Minister Sardar Usman Buzdar has said the farmer’s friendly initiatives of the incumbent government to develop agriculture sector on modern lines have started yielding results.
Expressing his satisfaction over the record harvest of wheat, sugarcane and other crops achieved in 2020-21, the chief minister said that the 40-kilogram support price of wheat and sugarcane had been ensured at the rate of Rs 1,800 and Rs 200, respectively.
Meanwhile, 2.09-million-ton wheat, 57m-ton sugarcane, 5.6m-ton potatoes, 1.9m-ton green gram, 7.8m-ton maize, 5.3m-ton paddy rice and 90,000-ton sesame crops were produced in Punjab, he added.
He further stated that it was satisfying that the maiden agri policy had been approved and being implemented in the province.
Usman Buzdar said that 147 new crop varieties had been approved by the Punjab Seed Corporation and 146 new grain markets registered under the Punjab Agricultural Marketing Regulatory Authority Act while farmers’ platforms had also been set up in 105 agri markets across Punjab.
The government was paying Rs 1.5 billion premium to the insurance companies for crops’ insurance and the subsidy amounts were being directly transferred to farmers’ accounts due to the launch of Kissan cards, he said.
While highlighting the PM Emergency Programme, the CM affirmed that the work was in progress on several agri projects valuing Rs 300 billion and Rs 12.5 billion subsidies were given on fertilizers along with Rs 4.4 billion subsidies for the purchase of certified seeds and agri machinery.
Similarly, farmers were given Rs 650 million subsidy for buying laser land levellers in addition to the provision of interest-free loans amounting to Rs 45 million through an e-credit scheme, he said. It was satisfying that farmers had earned an additional income of three billion rupees due to restoration of barren lands in various parts of the province.
A sum of Rs 3.62 billion was reserved for purchasing the latest drip/ sprinkler system with the facility of 60 per cent subsidy, he said. Similarly, Rs 420 million were allotted to install the solar system with the facility of a 50 per cent subsidy, added the CM.—INP
