LAHORE (National Times) – Punjab Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz has approved ‘Nawaz Sharif Kisan Card’.

A special meeting regarding agricultural reforms was held with Punjab Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz in chair.

The meeting reviewed a proposal to bring a law to stop the use of agricultural land for residential purposes and restructuring of Punjab Seed Corporation and Punjab Agricultural Research Board.

During the meeting, Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz gave approval to issue ‘Nawaz Sharif Kisan Card’.

In this regard, the chief minister said 500,000 farmers will be given loans of Rs150 billion in a year on easy terms through Kisan Card.

The farmers will be given agriculture loan to the tune of Rs30,000 per acre for purchase of best seeds, fertilizers and pesticides.

ESTABLISHMENT OF MODEL AGRICULTURE CENTERS

She said government will give various types of subsidies through Nawaz Sharif Kisan Card. She said model agriculture centers will be established in collaboration with the private sector across Punjab.

Modern agricultural machinery, training, pesticides, seeds and model plots will be established at the model agriculture centers.

She further said that in the first phase, a model agriculture center will be established in each district of the province. These steps will help farmers to get rid of fake fertilizers and medicines.

DIRECTIONS FOR COMPILATION OF CROP YIELD DATA

The chief minister directed the Agriculture Department to compile complete data on production and demand of each crop.

The meeting also approved creation of a state-of-the-art center of excellence for research and development of cotton, wheat and rice crops.

It was approved in the meeting to control the administrative affairs of the center of excellence through a board and to link the research center with regional universities.

It was also decided that a research and development center will be established at the cost of Rs2 billion at Agriculture University Faisalabad with the help of China.

Pak-China R&D Center will have facilities for research on genome, germ plasma resource, speed breeding and climate change.

Amendments will be made in Agriculture Pesticides Act and Fertilizers Control Act to curb sale of fake agricultural drugs and fertilizers.

In the meeting, it was agreed to equip the agricultural extension wing with modern technology and 500 agriculture graduates will be recruited.