‘Farmers to be facilitated on priority’

LAHORE: Punjab Agriculture Minister Ashiq Hussain Kirmani Wednesday said pursuing the vision of the Punjab Chief Minister farmers would be provided maximum facilities as a priority.

Punjab Agriculture Minister Ashiq Hussain Kirmani Wednesday A plan to run agriculture sector of the province on modern lines was presented to the minister during a review meeting of Transforming Agriculture and the future important plans/projects of Agriculture Department at Agriculture House. Punjab Agriculture Secretary Iftikhar Ali Sahoo briefed the minister on the projects and said the agricultural sector was facing several challenges. He said the Agriculture Department needed funds to the tune of Rs7.6billion to purchase laser land leveler machinery, Rs10billion for the construction and repair of water courses, Rs10billion for the transfer of tube-wells to solar system, Rs4billion for the revamping of the Agriculture Department (Extension) Wing, Rs10billion to give loans to farmers on easy installments, Rs1.25billion for setting up model agriculture centres and Rs2billion for Centres of Excellence.

The minister said modern agricultural equipment, machinery and solar systems will be provided on subsidy to reduce the production cost of farmers. He said effective measures will be taken for providing quality seeds for main crops especially soya bean crop.