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HYDERABAD, Nov 22: Federal Minister for Food and Agriculture Sikandar Hayat Bosan has said that the government is striving to develop the agriculture sector which is the backbone of the country’s economy.
He was speaking at the inaugural ceremony of sunflower cultivation at the Nizamani Farm in Tando Ghulam Hyder taluka and addressing a seminar on the cultivation of sunflower on Monday.
He said that to encourage small farmers, the government arranged bank loans for the purchase of seed and fertilizers.
He said it was extremely necessary to strengthen the agricultural base for the development of the country and wellbeing of farmers.
The minister said the government was taking effective steps to solve problems of farmers and haris.
He said the government was taking interest in encouraging cultivation of sunflower as a huge amount of Rs53 billion was being spent on import of edible oil.
He said that effective measures were being taken to curb the sale of substandard sunflower seed.
He stressed the need for using agricultural technology to boost production.
He said as compared to the last year, more water had been released for Sindh for Rabi crops.
He said that tractors would be given in rewards to those farmers who produced best sunflower crops.
The state minister for food and agriculture, Mr Mohammad Ali Malkani, said the agriculture sector would receive a real impetus and the farmers would also be equally benefited through the cultivation of sunflower crop.
He said that sunflower was being sown on 950,000 acres in Sindh which was almost 200,000 acre more than last year.
He said that a proposal was under an active consideration of the government to provide subsidy on sunflower seed.
He said an elaborate programme had been chalked out for lining of watercourses in the country.
A representative of the ICI company said that his organization was working on sunflower since 1962 in the world.
He said the company was paying more attention in Pakistan to encourage the cultivation of sunflower.
The president of the Sindh Abadgar Board, Mr Abdul Majeed Nizamani, and the president of the Sindh Chamber of Agriculture, Syed Qamaruzzaman Shah, also spoke on the occasion.
WASA: The Water and Sanitation Agency on Tuesday launched a grand operation against big defaulters and disconnected 15 commercial connections in a day.
It issued final notices to other chronic defaulters.
A spokesman of Wasa said that different teams had been constituted for three talukas of Qasimabad, Latifabad and City under the supervision of recovery magistrate, Afzal Ahmed Siddiqui, to check the paid bills.
The teams went from door to door and also visited the commercial centres.
The teams disconnected water supply to commercial consumers against whom an amount of more than Rs25,000 each were outstanding.
It included Rabia Square and Mohammadi Plaza Gari Khata, PICIC commercial bank, Latifabad-7, PTCL colony and exchange Latifabad.
Wasa notified that the last date for payment of bills for the month of October had been fixed as November 24.
The consumers have been advised to deposit their bills within due date to avoid disconnection.
LIBRARY RENAMED: The University of Sindh on Tuesday renamed its seminar library of department of Urdu after eminent research and religious scholar and professor emeritus of the university late professor Dr Ghulam Mustafa Khan.
Vice-chancellor Mazharul Haq Siddiqui performed the inaugural ceremony at the seminar library at faculty of arts building.
Scholars and faculty members of the faculty of arts as well as students attended the inaugural ceremony.
More than 10,000 books are available in the seminar library.
Prof Dr Fazal Haq Khursheed and chairperson of “Qalam Qabeela” Quetta, Ms Saqiba Raheem Din, also donated a number of unique books from their personal collections for the seminar library.
