ISLAMABAD, June 27: Federal Minister for Food and Agriculture Yar Muhammad Rind on Friday said that the government has decided to constitute “Agriculture Advisory Board” to monitor the performance of Agriculture sector.

Talking to APP, the minister said he himself would be heading the Board which would consist of over 20 members representing all sectors of agriculture.

Besides provincial representatives, he said, the members would also be selected from public and private sector to achieve the goals of productivity enhancement and its better use.

Yar Muhammad Rind said that government was determined to protect the interest of farmers, and a special incentive package for their betterment would be announced soon after approval from the Prime Minister.

He said government attaches high priority to the development of Agriculture sector and taking steps for the betterment of farming community to enhance rate of productivity.

The government was fully aware of the problems being faced by the growers and steps are under way for their resolution, he added.

He said, “we are deeply concerned about the issues like food security, malnutrition, value-adding, improving farm productivity, poverty alleviation and better livelihood for the farming community.”

Rind said the Prime Minister had announced a package to provide relief on the outstanding loans to the farmers to resolve their financial problems.

“We are in the process of establishing a better environment and infrastructure for different stakeholders in agriculture sector which would help improve marketing, quality of our products and boost exports,” he added.

Minister for Food and Agriculture said the government is emphasizing on improving protein consumption and related products by improving livestock and fish farming.—APP