Farmers to get agri tools at subsidised ratesOur correspondent

LAHORE: Agriculture Minister Ashiq Hussain Kirmani has said agricultural equipment and machinery will be provided to the farmers at discounted prices.

In a meeting, Punjab Agriculture Minister Syed Ashiq Hussain Kirmani said according to the vision of Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz, agricultural equipment and machinery will be provided to the farmers at discounted prices.

Apart from this, subsidy will also be provided to transfer agricultural tube wells to solar system. Around 56 types of agricultural equipment and machinery will be provided to farmers at discounted prices. Branding of agricultural machinery will be done on subsidy in the province. Short, medium and long-term projects will be prepared for the development of the agricultural sector in the province, the minister said and directed that viable proposals should be made to develop agricultural research in the province on modern lines.

In the meeting, Punjab Agriculture Secretary Iftikhar Ali Sahoo said farm mechanization in the province will increase the income of farmers. The establishment of model agriculture centres will play an important role in ensuring the availability of agricultural inputs at fixed prices to farmers. For the promotion of value agriculture, a project is being introduced to increase the production and quality of citrus, which will be applied in Sargodha in the first phase, he said.

Balloting for machinery will be done at the Tehsil level, he added. The meeting was held at the Agriculture House under the chairmanship of Minister Ashiq Hussain Kirmani. Projects prepared for the welfare of farmers were reviewed in the meeting.

Complete relief package provided to people

Provincial Finance Minister Mujtaba Shuja-ur-Rehman Wednesday visited Model Bazaar China Scheme here and checked the quality and rates of food items in the bazaar.

The provincial minister went to the stalls of vegetables, fruits and talked to the buyers. The people's satisfaction with buying from the Model Bazaar is a source of pride for our government, he said.

Talking to the media representatives, the minister said that according to the vision of Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz, complete relief package is being provided to the people in Model bazaars. Around 13 quality items are being provided at Agriculture Fair Price Shops at 25 percent lower rate than the market. The minister said that strict action was being taken against hoarders and illegal profiteers. The Punjab government has zero tolerance against those elements involved in price-hike.