HARIPUR, Nov 20: At least 5,893 farmers, most of them small landholders, have benefited from the Farm Service Centre (FSC) over the past four years and helped strengthen the agriculture sector.

This was stated by agronomist Raja Rasheed Khan at a briefing held by district nazim Yusuf Ayub Khan on the performance and functioning of FSC here on Sunday.

The agronomist informed the meeting, also attended by councillors, that the centre was set up in January 2001 with the aim of helping farmers get certified seeds, pesticides and services.

He said that FSC had 1,304 registered members and every member had to contribute Rs606 as one-time share to benefit from the FSC services, adding that the pooling of members’ share and matching grant from the government had earned the centre Rs1.562 million which is used for purchase of fertilizer, seeds and agriculture machinery.

The district nazim said that farmers must adopt modern agriculture techniques for better yield. He called for adopting the drip or sprinkle system of irrigation.