Agri sustainability a challenge: Tarin

Minister stresses need for boosting farm productivity with help of interest-free loans

ISLAMABAD:

Achieving sustainability in the field of agriculture is the biggest challenge, said Finance Minister Shaukat Tarin.

In a meeting with Special Assistant to Prime Minister on Food Security Jamshed Iqbal Cheema on Tuesday, he stressed the need for boosting farm productivity by facilitating farmers through interest-free agricultural loans so that they could get a fair share in the produce.

“The dominance of middlemen needs to be curtailed effectively,” he said. “By eliminating the role of middlemen, growers will get 35-40% higher return on their agricultural produce.”

The finance minister was of the view that interest-free loans would empower the farmers.

He discussed the modalities for provision of microcredit to the farmers through a syndicate of banks and microfinance institutions in a bid to enable them to purchase fertiliser, pesticides and other basic inputs.

He emphasised that the provision of interest-free loans to small farmers would transform the agriculture sector and end exploitation by the middlemen.

Published in The Express Tribune, May 19^th, 2021.

Like Business on Facebook, follow @TribuneBiz on Twitter to stay informed and join in the conversation.