At a meeting on agricultural reforms, Punjab’s Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz presided over the approval of the “Nawaz Sharif Kisan Card” for farmers.
Farmers would receive a variety of subsidies through the Kisan Card scheme, and 500,000 small farmers in Punjab will be eligible for loans totaling Rs 150 billion over the course of a year. Each farmer will receive Rs 30,000 for every acre of land used for agriculture.
CM Maryam Nawaz announced during the meeting that a model agriculture center will be constructed in each district of the province with the assistance of the commercial sector, enabling farmers to discard phony fertilizers and medications.
The establishment of a cutting-edge center of excellence for research development on cotton, wheat, and rice crops was approved during the conference, and the Agriculture Department was instructed to gather comprehensive data on the production and demand of each crop.
Participants in the conference decided to link the research center with local universities and to give the board authority over administrative matters.
It was also decided to construct a research and development center at Agricultural University Faisalabad with Chinese participation, at a cost of Rs 2 billion.
In addition, it was decided to hire 500 agricultural graduates, update the Punjab Seed Corporation and Punjab Agricultural Research Board’s organizational structures, provide a bill that forbids the use of agricultural land for residential purposes, and outfit the Agricultural Extension Wing with cutting-edge machinery.
