PESHAWAR, Oct 26: Provin-cial Minister for Agriculture Arbab Mohammad Ayub Jan has said that Rs300 million had been provided to the Bank of Khyber so that farmers could get their crops insured.

While addressing the students of the Agriculture Training Institute Peshawar, who completed their two-year course of field and stock assistants, the minister said that each farmer having twelve and a half acres land would be exempted from the premium, but would have to register his crop with the bank.

The minister said that the step had been taken in the interest of the farmers to give them protection from calamity and other natural disasters.

He said that 8,000 ton wheat seed had been kept at various pick-up points of agriculture farm service centres throughout the province from where the farmers could get quality seed at cheap rates and asked the farmers a fertiliser farm would also be available at these farms so that under an accord with the Fauji Fertilisers Corporation, the farmers could be provided quality fertilisers at factory rate.

The minister said that for purchasing of fertilisers, loan facilities would also be available at the rate of 6 per cent from the Bank of Khyber.

Mr Jan said that the provincial government had bound sugar mill owners to start their crushing season from November 1st so that the farmers could vacate in time their land for the cultivation of other crops. He said in each and every sugar mill, a magistrate had been posted to check the weight of sugarcane in the presence of growers.

The minister appreciated the role of field assistants in the agriculture sector and asked the outgoing students to keep close coordination with the farmers and apprise them of their experiences.

Minister Jan announced the upgradation of the institute to academy level and said that the onward course would be of three years and the students would be awarded diplomas, and they would be appointed in the government service in grade-15.

Secretary Agriculture Attaullah Khan and DG agriculture extension and research were also present on the occasion.