RAHIM YAR KHAN: Punjab Minister for Agriculture Hussain Jahania Gardezi says wheat is our strategic crop and the Punjab government will increase its production to cater to all needs of the country without any imports.

He was speaking at the inauguration of the Kissan Expo at the Khwaja Fareed University of Engineering and Information Technology (KFUEIT) on Monday. The exhibition was organised by KFUEIT, Punjab Agriculture Department and Fatima Fertiliser Company.

Mr Gardezi said the government was providing a Rs12.5bn subsidy to the farmers to increase the per acre yield of wheat as a part of a national project. He said that during the current year, the sowing target of wheat is 16.5m acres and its production target is 22 million metric tonnes.

“The government is focusing on agriculture, especially to enhance the wheat production,” the minister said and added that the agriculture expo would be a big awareness factor among the farmers of the region because they would get more benefits from the new agricultural machinery and tools.

Agriculture Extension Punjab Director General Dr Anjum Ali said 50,000 students of universities took part in the wheat sowing campaign.

He added that there was a need for the farmers to learn the use of the latest agricultural tools to get the best yield.

He told the farmers would get Rs1,200 subsidy per bag of the approved variety of wheat seed this year. He said the programme of 50pc subsidy on agriculture machinery of billions was already in progress.

KFUEIT VC Prof Dr Suleman Tahir said that to convert agriculture to the latest trends, mechanisation was essential and the KFUEIT was taking necessary steps in this regard. He briefed the participants about the latest agricultural tools displayed at the expo.

He urged the farmers to avoid the old trends of cultivation for their crops and learn the new skills to improve their maximum yield.

Later, the minister as well as other guests visited more than 50 stalls where the latest tractors, threshers, harvesters, small agricultural tools and machinery, new seeds, pesticides and research booklets were displayed.

Caption- Punjab Agriculture Minister Hussain Jahania Gardezi inspects different agriculture machinery at the Kissan Expo at KFUEIT.

Published in Dawn, November 29th, 2022