LAHORE – Punjab Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz approved the “Nawaz Sharif Kisan Card” in the province.
It was approved during a special meeting on agricultural reforms chaired by the chief minister on Friday.
During the meeting, the chief minister was briefed that farmers would be provided with 24,800 of the latest agricultural machinery at a cost of 7 billion rupees over two years.
Furthermore, Maryam Nawaz, while granting approval for Nawaz Sharif Kisan Card, expressed hope that farmers would benefit from genuine fertilizers and medicines, and in the first phase, a model agricultural center would be established in each district.
According to the announcements, 500,000 small farmers will be given loans of 150 billion rupees on easy terms within a year, loans of 30,000 rupees per acre will be provided for the purchase of quality seeds, fertilizers, and pesticides, and amendments will be made in the Act to prevent the sale of fake agricultural fertilizers and pesticides.
It was also revealed in the ongoing announcements that various types of subsidies would be provided through the Nawaz Sharif Kisan Card, model agricultural centers would be established across Punjab through private sector participation, and facilities for research on genomics, germplasm resources, speed breeding, and climate change would be available at the centers.
Punjab Seed Corporation and Punjab Agriculture Research Board were also established. Additionally, a decision was made to establish a research center worth Rs2 billion in Faisalabad with the cooperation of China.
The meeting also instructed the Agriculture Culture Department to compile comprehensive data on seasonal production and demand, while approval was given to establish centers of excellence for research and development on cotton, wheat, and rice crops.
A review was conducted during the session to propose legislation to prevent agricultural land from being used for residential purposes, and the Agricultural Extension Wing was agreed to be modernized with new technology, along with the recruitment of 500 agricultural graduates.
