UK, Punjab to jointly work on climate change, farmers’ support

LAHORE:Punjab Minister for Agriculture and Livestock Syed Ashiq Hussain Kirmani met with the Mr Ben Warrington, the Head of Lahore Office, British High Commission.

In the meeting, it was agreed to work bilaterally on farmer's support model, challenges of climate change, university linkages, breed improvement and FMD control programmes in the Agriculture and Livestock sectors. Secretary Agriculture Punjab Iftikhar Ali Sahoo was also present on the occasion.

The minister stated that Punjab values the financial assistance and support of the UK in the agriculture sector and we want to benefit from the experiences of the UK in the livestock sector.

He emphasised that the Transforming Punjab Agriculture Programme was being implemented with a huge amount of Rs400 billion. The government is working on mechanisation, high efficiency irrigation system, provision of quality seeds and establishment of research centres in the agricultural sector on a priority basis so that the production cost of crops can be reduced and the production per acre can be increased. To effectively control the issue of smog, the government has provided 5,000 super seeders to farmers on subsidy. The government is establishing four agriculture malls in Punjab to provide rental services of modern agricultural machinery, where all the machinery will be available on rent at subsidised rates. A loan programme is being launched for high-tech mechanisation for farmers and service providers.

According to the vision of the CM, the Punjab government is going to launch the Breed Improvement (Milk-Breed, Meat-Breed) programme in the livestock sector for the first time in 10 districts of the province. Semens of high-quality animals will also be provided in the market at discounted rates. He endorsed that for effective control of FMD, two zones and five compartments were going to be established in the budget of the next financial year, which will completely change the status of FMD.

Mr Ben Warrington appreciated the progress made in the agriculture sector under the reform agenda in Punjab. We are well aware of the problems of Punjab farmers and are serious about solving them, he explained.