FAISALABD City News

‘Punjab govt revamping agri policy’

From Our Correspondent

FAISALABD: Punjab Agriculture Department Secretary Muhammad Mahmood has said that the Punjab government is revamping agricultural policy with the special focus on farmers to address their problems.

He was chairing a meeting at the University of Agriculture, Faisalabad, here on Saturday. The secretary said that during the process of framing the policy, all stakeholders, including farmers associations, agricultural industry, scientists and political leadership, would be taken on board in order to address their problems and to increase the productivity. He said that the policy should be equally practically acceptable for all stakeholders. He said that needs and problems of small farmers vary from large farmers. He urged the members involved in the process of policy making to ask the farmers about their problems. He said that the key elements in agriculture sector were revolving around crop, land and farmers. However, he added, the farmers remained neglected in the past. He said that the government was introducing Kisan Smart Card by next year for financial support of farmers. The card would have all bio-data and land record etc, he informed. He said that the government would also provide subsidy on potash worth Rs 500 million in order to increase the productivity. The new mechanism would be adopted for the distribution of subsidy on potash as a pilot project under which each bag comprises a unique code, he maintained. The farmers would buy from open markets and after scratching they would send the code at the given number, he told. As a result of it, the government would release subsidised money to the farmers through easy paisa, he added. He said that the government was mulling converting the all subsidies on agricultural input on the same pattern. UAF Vice-Chancellor Prof Dr Iqrar Ahmad Khan said that the UAF was consulting with all stakeholders on the policy. He said that farmer-friendly policy with the focus on rural development was being devised for the development of the agriculture sector. He said that the agriculture production of the major crops had been facing stagnation. The first draft of the proposed agriculture policy was being forwarded to farming association, industry, MPs and donors for getting their final feedback on the agriculture policy issues, he added. He said that rules and regulations regarding pesticides, fertiliser and seeds would also be addressed in the proposed policy.