KARACHI: Sindh Chief Minister Syed Murad Ali Shah has said his government aims to implement several initiatives to develop overall agriculture system, which included farm mechanisation and subsidies on agricultural inputs for wheat and rice crops, and in this regard directed agriculture department to develop a four-year package for small growers.

Mr Shah directed officers of agriculture, food, and irrigation departments to collaborate in educating growers in the latest technology, water availability, and modern farming practices.

He highlighted the importance of understanding water availability for crop planning and emphasised that growers should focus on cultivating profitable crops.

He said this while presiding over a joint meeting of the agriculture, food and irrigation departments at the ChiefMinister`s House on Wednesday that under farm mechanisation, laser land levelling and manual hand-push seeder should be introduced for small growers with landholdings of one to 25 acres, said a press release.

He said that land levelling could be offered on rental basis and subsidies on agricultural inputs for wheat and rice crops could be provided, particularly for seeds, fertilisers, and herbicides/pesticides to small growers.

Laser land levelling Shah explained that levelling land using laser technology could conserve 20 per cent to 30pc of irrigation water. This approach could also yield an increase of 6pc to 10pc, while reducing irrigation time by 50pc. The overall result would be a 20pc boost in income, along with the prevention of waterlogging and salinity, and a more balanced use of agricultural inputs, he said.

Regarding the manual hand-push seed planter, the chief minister said that astudy showed this tool could reduce planting time and labour by 20pc to 30pc. It would ensure 90pc to 95pc accuracy in seed placement and spacing, leading to a 40pc to 50pc decrease in physical strain on farmers.

Additionally, using this planter could increase crop yields by 10pc to 20pc, reduce soil disturbance and erosion by 20pc to 30pc, and lower planting costs by 5pc to 25pc.

The chief minister was informed that there were 3,552,980 acres of land in the province owned by holders with 1 to 25 acres each. To level these 3.5 million acres, 2,961 laser levellers would be needed overthreeyears,he said.

Overall impact The chief minister was advised that the overall impact of subsidy on agriculturalinputscouldleadto a13pcincrease in the production of wheat and rice crops through seed subsidies, a 5pc increase in production from DAP and urea subsi-dies, and a 5pc increase in production from herbicide and pesticide subsidies, respectively.

Additionally, the CM was informed that wheat was cultivated in Sindh over an area of 3.1 million acres, while rice covered 2.0 million acres, requiring 3.8 million maunds of seed for wheat and 0.99 million maunds for rice.

Against this requirement, 3.2 million maunds of wheat seed and 0.942 million maunds of rice seed were available in the market, indicating a shortfall of 0.6 million maunds of wheat and 45,423 maunds of rice seeds.

In response, the chief minister instructed the agriculture department to ensure the availability of necessary certified seed by all means possible.

Shah instructed the agriculture, food and irrigation departments to collaborate effectively. This collaboration was essential to inform and educate growers in the latest technology, water availability, and modern farming practices in a timely manner.