LAHORE: Punjab Minister for Agriculture Syed Hussain Jahania Gardezi on Tuesday said the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) government was taking all possible steps to ensure food security across the country. He expressed these views while addressing a seminar organized for awareness of wheat farmers in Sheikhupra district, says a news release. The provincial minister said that increase in wheat production was the need of hour, adding that the average production of wheat in Sheikhupura district was 37 maund per acre which could be increased to 40 maund per acre through hard work, attention and modern production technology.
He said that wheat crop was cultivated on 513,000 acres in Sheikhupura which yielded 681,000 metric tonnes during last year. “I hope that this year more area will be brought under wheat cultivation in Sheikhupura district”, he added. He said the target for wheat cultivation in Punjab province had been set at 16.7 million acres this year, adding that farmers were being instructed to follow the recommendations of the department of agriculture, use of nutritious fertilizers and certified seeds to maximize the yield of wheat. Syed Hussain Jahania Gardezi said that this year one million bags of approved varieties of wheat were being provided at a subsidy of Rs 1200 per bag and a total of 10 million acres of approved varieties of wheat were being sown.
He further said that the national programme for increasing wheat production per Acre with a significant amount of Rs 12.59 was being implemented and under this programme, more than Rs 1 billion in modern agricultural machinery and other agricultural inputs were being provided on subsidy. “All the subsidies are being transferred directly to the farmers ‘accounts in the form of cash transfers”, he added. The Provincial agriculture minister appealed to the farmers to complete the registration of farmers’ cards as soon as possible so they could get the subsidy. Director General Agriculture (Extension) Dr Muhammad Anjum Ali, Director Agriculture (Extension) Lahore Division Sher Muhammad Sharawat, Representatives of Private Fertilizer Company and a large number of local agriculture department officials, farmers and media representatives attended the seminar.