Punjab Chief Minister Pledges to Support Farmers with Cutting-edge Agricultural Machinery
Published on: March 29, 2024.
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Punjab Government to Provide Agricultural Machinery to Farmers
LAHORE – In a recent meeting chaired by Punjab Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz, the government has decided to offer 56 types of agricultural machinery to farmers. The aim is to promote mechanization in the agricultural sector. The machinery, which will be purchased at a cost of Rs2 billion, will be provided to farmers at subsidized rates.
During the meeting, it was revealed that a total of 1,000 lazer levellers will be distributed to farmers over the next six months. The Punjab government also approved a program to cement water channels across the province to prevent the wastage of irrigation water. The first phase of the project will see 1,200 water channels concreted at a cost of Rs10 billion, while 7,000 channels will be solidified in the second phase.
The Secretary of Agriculture presented various projects during the meeting, and it was decided to request the federal government to remove taxes on rice straw shredder machines. The purpose of this request is to control smog and prevent crop residue burning. Under the two-year mechanization plan, a total of 23,000 agricultural equipment and 2,280 laser land levellers will be distributed to farmers at a cost of Rs13.4 billion.
In addition to these initiatives, Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz Sharif also approved the Solar Tube Well Project. This project aims to provide solar systems to farmers with land holdings up to 25 acres within two years.
The meeting also discussed the need for wheat production in Pakistan, with an annual requirement of 29 million tonnes. Punjab currently produces 26 million tonnes of wheat, but an additional 1.75 million tonnes of seeds are required for the cultivation of various crops. To address this, the Punjab government plans to increase seed production from 0.4 million tonnes to 0.6 million tonnes. There is also a proposal to cultivate soybean seed on 100,000 acres of land with the support of the University of Agriculture Faisalabad.
The Chief Minister stated that the federal government will be approached to eliminate taxes and duties on high-tech agricultural machinery, further promoting the use of advanced equipment in the agricultural sector.
