‘0.725m farmers register for CM’s Punjab Kisan Card’

LAHORE : The registration of 0.725 million farmers for the Chief Minister’s Punjab Kisan Card has been completed, said Secretary Agriculture Iftikhar Ali Sahoo.

By August 31st, the target of 1 million farmers will be achieved for the registration of Kisan Card. He was presiding over a meeting held at Agriculture House here Tuesday for the progress related to the CM’s agriculture initiatives.

On this occasion, he said that the awareness campaign was being accelerated to achieve the goal of registration of Kisan Card being done only through an SMS.

Secretary said that the 0.315 million farmers’ data was sent to the Bank of Punjab. He instructed that the bank should share the list of focal persons of district and tehsil with the Agriculture Department. Punjab Kisan Card will be available in the Bank of Punjab branches at the tehsil level from September 1st. He further said that the proposals regarding the facility of 25% cash withdrawal through Kisan Card were being finalised.

He said that the receipt of applications under the CM’s Punjab Green Tractor Scheme would be started soon. Farmers of 1 to 25 acres of agricultural land will be eligible for the transfer of agricultural tube-wells to solar energy. For solarisation of agricultural tube-wells, 67% subsidy will be provided. The selection of 1,000 agricultural graduates have been completed under the CM’s Punjab Internship Programme.

'Climate change hit farming sector'

Climate change is severely affecting agriculture in the country, warned Pakistan Kisan Itehad (PKI) here Tuesday. The yields of sesame (til), rice, and cotton have drastically reduced due to the heat wave, with temperatures reaching 48°C and an unprecedented heat index of 60°C. This year, the yield of sesame is about 2-3 mounds per acre from 10-12 mounds per acre last year, while rice yields dropped to 5-50 mounds per acre from 80-120 mounds per acre last year. Cotton production reduced to 392,768 bales comparing to 636,848 bales last year in Punjab, said Khalid Mahmood Khokhar, President PKI in a statement. He added that total cotton production was 2.11 million bales last year and it dropped to 1.07 million bales this year in Pakistan by August 15, 2024. Similarly, the prices of these commodities have also decreased, with rice prices falling from Rs4,400 per mound last year to Rs2,200 per mound this year, and cotton prices dropping to Rs6,000-7,000 per mound. Prices of tractors have risen high.

It is high time to declare agriculture emergency in the country and arrange a grand dialogue to mitigate the climate change, he said. Fertilizer prices increased to Rs4,600 per bag of urea and should be reduced to Rs3,000-3,500 so that every farmer can afford it and increase their yields. The electricity rate for agricultural tube-wells has been set from Rs55 per unit to Rs70 per unit, while it is Rs48 per unit for industry.

This electricity rate for agriculture must be reduced and brought lower than the industrial tariff, he said. Khokhar lamented that farmers have started committing suicides as Imran Yousuf of Haroonabad committed suicide because he could not pay the electricity bills and input cost.