The government is using all its resources to provide maximum facilities to farmers as it seeks to increase the agricultural production, said Federal Minister for National Food Security and Research Syed Fakhar Imam.
During his visit to the Agriculture Research Institute, Tarnab, Peshawar on Thursday, he said that an amount of Rs8 billion had been given to the fertiliser industry in subsidies in a bid to aid farmers.
He pointed out that 40,000 tons of wheat was released every day at the minimum support price to ensure that prices of the staple crop remained low for the general public.
“The government is playing a critical role in facilitating the research centres to help farmers increase their productivity,” he added.
Projects under the National Agriculture Emergency Programme, being implemented in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa, were important for the sustainable development of agriculture and livestock sectors, he said.
Imam said that Prime Minister Imran Khan’s vision for the agriculture and livestock sectors depended on sustainability because it would directly benefit the farmers and cattle breeders.
He told the audience that under the Agriculture Transformation Plan, subsidies on fertiliser and seeds were being prioritised besides paying attention to innovation in agriculture.
Imam revealed that out of the 500,000 registered farmers, 100,000 had been given Kissan Cards and benefits worth Rs475 million were provided.
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He was of the view that the manufacturing of engineering goods for agriculture would determine the future of the sector.
“Most of the machinery, used in the segment, is imported and it is time that the country looks towards import substitution to bridge the import-export gap,” he said.
He stressed upon local scientists to perform their due role as the future of the country rested on their shoulders.
K-P Minister for Agriculture Mohibullah Khan said that the agri-sector had been facing immense difficulties and stagnation for the past several years.
“We have made significant progress over the past three years and we have achieved the targets of several years in just two years,” he noted.
Published in The Express Tribune, February 4th, 2022.
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