Punjab Chief Minister Shehbaz Sharif has said that vast potential exists in agriculture, livestock, and dairy farming sectors.
Sustainable development of these sectors would help in strengthening the economy, alleviating poverty, and decreasing joblessness, he said. The chief minister expressed these views while talking to a delegation of MNAs and MPAs associated with the agriculture sector here on Saturday.
The chief minister said that solid steps have been taken for the promotion of agriculture, livestock and dairy farming sectors keeping in view the key importance of agriculture to the national economy. He added that interest-free loans worth Rs 100 billion were being provided to small farmers for the first time in the history of the country.
The agriculture sector will grow as a result of the provision of these interest-free loans and enable small farmers to prosper. He said that the interest-free loans programme had been expanded in a transparent manner by using the latest technology and more than 600,000 small farmers would benefit from the programme.
Shehbaz Sharif said that steps are being taken on a priority basis for the promotion of agriculture sector and the betterment of small farmers. Landless farmers will also benefit from the interest-free loan programme, he claimed. The system of provision of loans to farmers has been made simple by using a digital system, he added.
He said that the provision of past subsidies on agricultural apparatus and fertilisers had left positive impacts on the agriculture sector and per acre yield had increased. The chief minister said that the Kisaan Package, worth billions of rupees, has brought about a “green revolution.”
Shehbaz Sharif added that payment to farmers would be ensured during the wheat procurement campaign. The government would procure as much wheat from the farmers as they would like to sell, he claimed, adding that the best possible facilities would be provided to farmers at wheat procurement centres. Gunny bags will be distributed in a transparent manner through the digital system, he said.
The chief minister said that a programme worth billions of rupees for the construction and restoration of rural roads was in progress at full speed. The construction and restoration of thousands of kilometres of rural roads has already been completed, he said. The implementation of the Khadim-e-Punjab Rural Road Programme would change rural lifestyles and the construction and restoration of rural roads have been helping farmers bring their agricultural commodities to markets, he concluded.
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