Agriculture: PM promises a bright future to farmers

Govt working on easy loans, improving livestock

ISLAMABAD: Agriculture is a priority area for the government and it would be given the status of industry, while the scope of agriculture credit would be expanded, said Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif at the launching ceremony of a Credit Guarantee Scheme for small farmers.

The prime minister said he was pleased to participate in a scheme that would benefit small farmers and raise their standard of living.

He said the government was working on providing easy loans for the agriculture sector along with improvement of livestock with a view to achieve self-sufficiency and computerisation of land records.

He said over 65% of farmers owned less than five acres of land and the banks needed to open their doors for deserving people.

He added that the government wanted to improve resources for small farmers by providing them better fertilisers, pesticides and farming equipment to increase yield. “It’s not right to go out of our way to serve those who are already wealthy and still want loans worth billions,” he added.

He regretted that certain people did not want to see the country get new roads, power houses, infrastructure, health and education. “Investment worth $45 billion for the economic corridor is an eye sore for many,” he remarked.

The prime minister was earlier briefed that salinity and water logging were one of the major problems facing the agricultural sector. The meeting was also informed of the measures being taken to increase productivity, information sharing through model farms and introduction of mobile banking in rural areas.

A UN Report was also mentioned, which has predicted that in 10 years Pakistan will be one of the 17 countries facing a serious water crisis and suggested urgent need for conservation and management.

Published in The Express Tribune, May 15^th, 2015.

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