LAHORE: A ceremony was held at the Agriculture House here to launch the registration of Punjab Chief Minister Kisan Card.

Agriculture Minister Syed Ashiq Hussain Kirmani, who was the chief guest, said the Rs400 billion Transforming Punjab Agriculture Programme would be a game changer for agricultural development and farmers’ prosperity in the province.

Under this scheme, registration for Kisan Card is being started for providing the farmers with the facility of getting interest-free loans.

He said that a sum of Rs300bn would be extended under the scheme aimed at protecting the farmers from the exploitation of middlemen.

Mr Kirmani said that over 10,000 online applications have so far been received and each of the successful applicants owning between one and 12.5 acres of land would be offered Rs30,000 per acre loan for each crop.

He said the scope and funding of Kissan Card would be further increased.

With Kisan Card the farmers could purchase agricultural inputs in time and thus help improve their per acre yield.

The minister appealed to the farmers to repay the Kisan Card loan within six months to be able to avail interest-free loan for the next crop as well.

Agriculture secretary Iftikhar Ali Sahoo said that a total of 500,000 farmers would benefit from the scheme being implemented on the ‘first come, first served’ basis.

He said through the Kisan Card, quality fertilisers and seeds would be available to the farmers at fixed prices from 10,000 registered dealers in the province and added that the applicants would get their cards through SMS alerts.

In future, more facilities and services would be provided to the farmers through the Kisan Card, being issued in collaboration with the Bank of Punjab, Nadra, Punjab Information Technology Board and Punjab Land Record Authority, he added.

Published in Dawn, June 5th, 2024