RAWALPINDI: Commissioner Rawalpindi retired Capt Mohammad Mehmood has said forests on the route of Rawalpindi Ring Road will be surveyed so that steps could be taken to fully protect them during the execution of the project. He said to increase forest cover, the forest department will provide Rs2 per plant to farmers from the current spring. Moreover, the departments of education and health and the armed forces would be provided free plants.

He stated this while presiding over a meeting of the Divisional Agriculture Advisory Committee. The meeting was attended by officials of the agriculture extension, forestry, fisheries and other departments.

He said the forest department has set targets for planting trees on public and private lands and progress in this regard was also being reviewed.

The commissioner said 20 years data of cultivable area in Rawalpindi division will be collected and its details regarding each crop will be reviewed. A regular analysis will be made to find out which crop’s cultivation area has reduced or increased.

He said the area under cultivation of some crops had decreased significantly, therefore, with the help of 20 years of data these reasons will be assessed and then regular planning will be done.

He said that a detailed report of all small and mini-dams and ponds will also be prepared.

Cage fish farming should be promoted in Potohar and farmers should be attracted towards it as it could be made a success in the region. He said training material for cage fish farming should further be improved and modern techniques and trends should be included in it.

A department of beefarming needs to be established on modern lines and in this regard high quality varieties of bees are being imported. He said registration of nurseries and training of nursery workers was in progress.

The Punjab government is planning to provide Rs300,000 as a subsidy to each registered nursery, he added.

Published in Dawn, March 12th, 2021