LAHORE: Setting a provincial wheat cultivation target of 16.5 million acres for the upcoming season, Punjab Agriculture Minister Syed Ashig Hussain Kirmani announced that the government fixed a support price of Rs4,500 per maund to safeguard growers’ interests and boost national food security.
Presiding over a review meeting at the Commissioner’s Office on Wednesday, the minister detailed a series of farmer-centric interventions, noting that Rs150 billion has been allocated under the Kissan Card to facilitate the purchase of agricultural inputs, alongside Rs425bn in interest-free loans disbursed over the past two and a half years.
He added that 45,000 tractors have been distributed at subsidised rates under the Green Tractor scheme, complemented by a Rs450 million subsidy on certified wheat seeds provided through the Punjab Seed Corporation.
Reviewing the division-specific metrics, Lahore Division was assigned a target of 1.35m acres, an increase of 50,000 acres from the previous year, according to Secretary Agriculture Punjab Shakeel Ahmad Mian.
Mr Kirmani directed the field officers to ensure that approved 50kg wheat seed bags are retailed at a fixed price of Rs7,000, adopting a zero-tolerance stance against hoarding, profiteering, black marketing, and canal water theft. -Staff Reporter