LAHORE, May 14: The Punjab government decided on Tuesday to provide relief to farmers by sharing one third of their electricity bills of agriculture tubewells for the next three months.

It fixed the production targets of the forthcoming cotton and rice crops to 7.9 million bales and 2.3 million tons and decided to ask the federal government to double the ceiling of agriculture bank loans for the kharif crops from the existing Rs10 billion to Rs20 billion.

The government decided to immediately write off the agriculture loans up to Rs25,000 given to farmers in bordering areas and the villages declared calamity-hit. There will be no interest on loans upto Rs100,000 given to farmers in these areas.

Other decisions were to ask the federal government to lower the mark up on agriculture loans from the existing 14 to 16 per cent to 12 per cent and to make the Trading Corporation of Pakistan to lift one million cotton bales from the Punjab, helping it to clear its backlog of the previous year.

The decisions were announced by Punjab Agriculture Minister Khurshid Zaman Qureshi after a meeting presided over by Governor Khalid Mahmood here at the Civil Secretariat.

Representatives of the State Bank, Bank of Punjab, ADBP, growers and APTMA also attended the meeting.

Agriculture Secretary Junaid Iqbal, Food Secretary Shahid Khan and Irrigation Departm-ent’s Consultant Mahmoodul Hasan Siddiqui were also present during the briefing. They explained positions of their departments regarding the preparations for the forthcoming rice and cotton crops in the province.

According to the minister, the meeting decided to allow the flat rates on agriculture tubewells during the next three months to enable farmers to sow their cotton and rice crops without any problem.

The facility would be one third reduction of the total monthly bill of every tubewell, he said, adding he did not know as to how much the provincial government would have to pay to Wapda for the provision of the facility to the farmers.

He said the meeting banned from next year the sowing of varieties of cotton — Nayab-78, Karishma, BS-36 and CIM-109 — which had the susceptibility of cotton leaf virus. It allowed the sowing of the seeds of these varieties during the current year for other provinces having no threat of the disease.

The minister said it was decided to constitute tehsil level management committees comprising officials of the food and agriculture departments and the tehsil Nazimeen concerned to ensure the provision of quality fertilizers and pesticides to farmers throughout the season.

He said it was decided to ask the federal government to waive off 15 per cent GST on fertilizers to provide relief to the farmers in the province.

The minister said the meeting decided to recommend to the federal government to increase the existing Rs780 and Rs385 per 40kgs support price of cotton and rice to benefit farmers.

He said the meeting banned the sowing of 386 type of rice because of reports that certain circles were mixing it with superior Basmati rice to earn profit.

The minister said the meeting agreed to a demand by the farmers’ representatives that adequate gypsum should be arranged for the rice crop.

It reviewed the availability of fertilizers in the country and agreed to import potassium if required.

He said the governor asked the authorities concerned to revive the actual spirit of the cooperative movement so that their loans could be utilized by the deserving farmers.

The minister said the meeting was informed that the cooperatives were devising a new programme to become farmers-friendly agencies.

He said the governor asked the irrigation department to ensure availability of water, specially to the tail ends of canals.

The agriculture secretary said the capacity of the department’s pesticides testing laboratories at Multan, Faisalabad and Kala Shah Kaku had been doubled and their performance would be evaluated through the number of unfit samples.

“We will also monitor the producers of pesticides and other related items to ensure their purity,” he said.

He mentioned different steps taken to provide quality seeds, fertilizers and pesticides to farmers for the cotton and rice crops.

The food secretary said the meeting was informed that this year 91.05 per cent of the payment to the sugarcane growers had been made by the sugar mills.

The governor directed the speedy payment of the remaining price.

He said this year 24.5 million metric tons of sugarcane had been crushed as against 18 million metric tons of the last year, producing nearly 2.1 million metric tons of sugar as against 1.43 million metric tons of the last year.

The secretary said the meeting expressed its satisfaction over the speed of the procurement of wheat. So far, 1.5 million tons of wheat had been procured and 21.38 million gunny bags distributed for it.

The irrigation department consultant said the estimated availability of water for the kharif crops in the country was 52.79 MAF of which the Punjab was to get a share of 27.02 MAF. The total availability was as against the country’s historical uses of 67.11 MAF, showing a shortfall of 21 per cent.

He said the Punjab was to face a shortage of 22 per cent during the entire kharif season but the situation was better than the last year.

The consultant said the hot weather during the past few days had improved the water level in rivers because of the rapid melting of snow over the hills.

He said the governor took a serious notice of the incidents of water theft in the province and asked authorities concerned to arrest it. The governor also directed to ensure protection of the canal banks and prevent their breaching.

He said the governor directed to distribute available water to all areas through micro management. He said water had been released in the Balloki-Suleimanki Link Canal which had to be closed because of a breach near Suleimanki headworks.