Our Correspondent
Multan
Punjab government earmarked Rs 4 billion for eradication of locust because it was considered as one of the biggest challenge to crops. This was stated by Secretary Agriculture Punjab Wasif Khursheed in a statement issued here on Sunday. The Punjab government in collaboration with federal government and some other departments was working to eradicate locust and save losses to farmers as well as country’s economy.
He observed that Rs 31.73 billion were earmarked for agriculture sector. The mount will be spent on subsidy on fertilizers and seeds. Similarly, the amount will also be spent farm mechanization, water courses lining, drip irrigation, sprinkle and solar energy systems. Secretary agriculture further remarked that federal government was also working on different project of agriculture.
Different programmes worth Rs 300 billions were already in progress. Recently, the federal cabinet approved Rs 56.6 billion as relief package for the peasants. The amount is an additional amount, he observed. Wasif maintained that the government set 2.9 percent agriculture development target and hoped that agriculture would achieve this target.
