FAISALABAD, July 5: Classes of FSc agriculture will be introduced in seven selected colleges of the province from the next academic session.

This was given out here on Friday in a Kissan Convention 2002 at the University of Agriculture, Faisalabad.

Speaking on the occasion, Punjab Agriculture Minister Khursheed Zaman Qureshi said the government was fully alive to the importance of agriculture in the national economy.

The convention, he said, would be helpful in sharing practical experiences and unconventional inventions of the progressive farmers at a scientific platform.

Over and above to concentrate on financially profitable crops, he underlined the need to establish a viable link between supply and demand.

“The government has earmarked Rs656.6 million for setting up a model agricultural farm which will be inter-linked with other sectors of agriculture through information technology”, he said.

The minister said agricultural appliances banks would be set up in important rural areas for the provision of agriculture gadgets at cheaper rates or at nominal rent.

He said the Punjab government was extending agriculture loans for the purchase of farm appliances, seed, fertilizer and other agriculture inputs.

Commenting on the speeches delivered during the convention, the minister said most of the farmers were critical of the existing agri marketing system in the country.

Farmers, he said, could get reasonable price of their produce by switching over to the modern agricultural marketing strategies.

Speaking on the occasion, vice-chancellor Prof Dr Riaz Hussain Qureshi said the Kissan Convention was an effort to establish a link between farmers and agriculture researchers.

Progressive farmers Haji Muhammad Ashraf Javed, Ghulam Mustafa, Muhammad Akram Gill and Mumtaz Khan Manees also spoke and shared their personal experiences.—APP