LAHORE: The Punjab government on Wednesday launched Phase-II of the Livestock Card scheme aimed to provide interest-free loans to farmers in the province to improve their livestock’s production and quality.
Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz formally inaugurated the scheme’s second phase digitally by swiping a card.
A documentary highlighting the livestock department initiative was also screened at the ceremony.
The chief minister expressed satisfaction over the 96pc loan recovery rate achieved under the Phase-I of the scheme.
CM appreciates 96pc loan recovery rate in Phase-I of the interest-free loan scheme for farmers
The chief minister was informed in a briefing that farmers would receive Rs27,000 per animal through the Livestock Card and would be able to purchase wanda (animal feed), silage and mineral mixtures, among other essential supplies, through interest-free loans.
Under Phase-II, the government aims at increasing meat production by improving nutrition of 600,000 animals over the next two years through a balanced feed. Farmers will receive interest-free loans worth Rs16.2 billion under the scheme. The principal amount will be repaid by the farmers, while the Punjab government will bear the interest cost.
The briefing said the Livestock Card would also facilitate free tagging of animals and foot and mouth disease (FMD) vaccination. Farmers will be able to withdraw 25pc of their interest-free loans in cash through ATMs, it added.
She was briefed that the ‘Livestock Connect’ portal has directly linked 23,000 farmers with meat exporters.
The Punjab government signed Memorandums of Understanding (MoUs) with eight major exporters to promote meat exports.
The chief minister was informed that through the Punjab Agriculture and Meat Company (Pamco), MoUs have also been signed to facilitate meat exports to China, Saudi Arabia, Gulf countries, Azerbaijan, Uzbekistan and European markets.
The number of women livestock farmers registered under the Livestock Card scheme has increased from 90 to 1,107, while animal exports from Punjab have risen by 43pc, while meat exports have increased by $96m in one year due to the scheme, she was told.
It was briefed that a total of 23,312 livestock cards have been prepared for farmers across Punjab. Under the scheme, 1,739 farmers have carried out more than 70,000 transactions.
Farmers have spent Rs20m on mineral mixtures, Rs87m on silage and Rs892.6m on wanda (animal feed), according to the briefing.
Published in Dawn, October 15th, 2026
