PESHAWAR: The Provincial Development Working Party approved three projects under the Agriculture Transformation Plan, at a meeting held here on Wednesday.

The meeting approved a project costing Rs2.9 billion aimed at upgrading and enhancing the tele-farming and digital services across the province, according to a statement issued by the planning and development department.

The livestock extension component includes revival of 9,211 helpline services, establishment of a web portal, a mobile application for agriculture research purposes, and carrying out real-time monitoring of field staff to ensure transparency.

It approved ‘soil fertility mapping of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa’ project at a cost of over Rs603 million. Under the project, 25 soil testing labs across the province will be strengthened, and an analysis of 450,000 soil samples will be carried out. It will also ensure farmers’ registration on an android-based mobile application.

The forum also approved a project regarding establishment of seed industry in the province at a cost of Rs876.36 million. Under the project, 15 seed processing units will be procured, and 20 new stores will be built across the province.

The statement said that sustainable development of the agriculture sector, facilitating the farmers and ensuring food security were amongst the priority areas of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa’s government, and that all available resources were being utilised for the purpose.

Published in Dawn, September 16th, 2021