Islamabad: In an attempt to boost the agriculture sector, the federal government introduced the Prime Minister’s National Agricultural Emergency Programme yesterday, in collaboration with the provincial governments and farmers, according to a news source. The project is worth a total of PKR 309.7 billion, of which the provincial governments’ share is the greatest at PKR 175 billion. This programme will radically raise agricultural spending during the tenure of the current government by 360% in comparison to the previous decade.
A total of 16 projects are to be introduced in five areas of the agricultural sector, but the main focus of the government will be on saving water and increasing its productivity, which is what three of these projects are for. These three projects alone have a total budget of PKR 220 billion, which is the highest allocation out of all the sectors.
Four projects are being launched for increasing the harvest of important crops, such as oil seeds, at a net worth of PKR 44.8 billion, while another PKR 13.9 billion is being allocated to three projects for fisheries. To facilitate small and medium-scale farmers, four projects worth PKR 44.8 billion are being introduced in the livestock sector. Finally, PKR 23.6 billion will be allocated to two projects for the purpose of renovating agricultural produce markets.
During the press conference, Meboob Sultan, Federal Minister for National Food Security and Research, told the media that over a hundred meetings have been held in major cities across the country to devise a proper plan in collaboration with all the provincial governments. These efforts are being made in light of Pakistan’s increasing agricultural import bill.
Apart from this programme, the government is making several other efforts for the betterment of the sector. Officials are trying to negotiate duties on cotton imports with textile millers, and farmers are being given subsidies on electricity. In addition, fertiliser plants are to be charged only half the rate on natural gas, among other initiatives underway.
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