Punjab Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz has approved the Kisan Card for farmers and a centre of excellence for research and development on cotton, wheat, and rice crops.
During the meeting, it was decided that the administrative affairs of the center would be managed through a board and also the research center would be linked with regional universities.
The chief minister presided over a special meeting with the officials of the agriculture department for a greener Punjab for the second consecutive day. The meeting discussed proposals to reform the Punjab Seed Corporation and the Punjab Agricultural Research Board, and also reviewed bringing a law to stop the use of agricultural land for residential purposes.
During the meeting, CM Maryam Nawaz approved the "Nawaz Sharif Kisan Card” under which Rs500,000 loan will be given to small farmers on easy terms. Agricultural loans and various types of subsidies will also be given per acre for seeds, fertilisers, and medicines.
It was also decided that with the cooperation of the Pakistan-China R&D Center, a research and development centre will be built at the cost of Rs2 billion in the agriculture university of Faisalabad. The R&D center will have the facility of a genome center, germplasm resource, speed breeding and research on climate change.
During the briefing, the government also agreed to equip the agricultural extension wing with modern technology and recruit 500 agriculture graduates, while 24,800 latest agricultural equipment will be provided to the farmers at a cost of Rs7 billion in two years.
The chief minister expressed that with the participation of the private sector, model agriculture centres will be built across Punjab, where agricultural drugs, modern machinery, seeds and demonstration plots will be built.
Senior Provincial Minister Marriyum Aurangzeb, Information Minister Azma Zahid Bukhari, Agriculture Minister Muhammad Ashiq Hussain, Parvez Rasheed, Saud Majeed, the chief secretary, secretaries of agriculture and finance department, the Bank of Punjab president and other officials were also present in the meeting.
