SWABI: Adviser to chief minister on agriculture Mian Muhammad Umar on Saturday announced that anagriculture engineering office would be established in the Swabi district to facilitate farmers.

He was speaking at a “Khuli Kutchehri” in the district, where farmers informed him about their problems and needs. They also shared their suggestions with the adviser to help solve the issues being faced by the agricultural sector.

Mr Umar said that he was visiting various districts of the province to learn about the problems of farmers. He assured them that the government would spare no effort to facilitate them.

He said that action would be taken against the corrupt elements in the agriculture department while the public money would be spent on the welfare of farmers.

The adviser elaborated that the proposed agricultural engineering office would make available agricultural machinery to farmers.

“Measures are being taken to address the challenges of climate change. A comprehensive plan is being made to promote tunnel farming and vertical farming,” he said.

He said that measures were being taken to prevent carrot weed.

He said that the capacity of the soil testing lab in Swabi district would be increased and if the need arose, establishment of a new soil testing lab would be considered.

“A scheme is also being introduced to provide loans to farmers through the Bank of Khyber, which will help increase the per acre yield. A project is being launched to set up tube-wells,” he added.

Mr Umar warned that strict action would be taken against the district director concerned if the presence of fake fertilizers and substandard pesticides were found.

He said that more than 9.5 lakh farmers had been registered under the food security support project so far. He said that the call centre of the Bureau of Agriculture Information was active to guide farmers. “The agricultural experts are giving advice to farmers,” he said.

He added that 4000 acre land in Swabi would be irrigated through the Pehor High Level Canal Expansion Project, adding that the number of field assistants was being increased to provide better services to farmers.

Published in Dawn, July 19th, 2026