The strength of the farmer is the strength of the country: Imran Khan
ISLAMABAD: Addressing a function held in Multan for the issuance of Farmers Card for Farmers, the Prime Minister said that farmers are the backbone of Pakistan and the stronger we strengthen it, the stronger our country will be. “Agricultural production in Pakistan can be doubled and for this I have decided to head the agricultural sector myself and provide details of the new initiative with a time frame every week,” he said.
Addressing a function held in Multan for the issuance of farmer cards for farmers, the Prime Minister said that farmers are the backbone of Pakistan and the stronger we strengthen it, the stronger our country will be.
He said that today we have taken the step which will prove that we are moving towards modern agriculture, the farmer card issued today will change Pakistan, as we move towards technology, corruption will continue to come down.
The Prime Minister said that in our time alone, the subsidy price of wheat for farmers has increased by Rs.
He said that the price of wheat, peanut, maize and milk received by the farmers has gone to the farmers to the tune of Rs. 1100 billion. The highest poverty is in the villages and thus we are moving towards the goal of poverty alleviation.
The Prime Minister said that the target of Rs. 1200 billion was to go to the rural areas so that the situation would improve there. He said that a subsidy would be given on DLP of Rs. There will be subsidies.
He said that we will also be able to give loans through this farmer card and when the crop is destroyed due to natural calamities, they will also be helped through this card.
The Prime Minister said that water is the biggest problem which affects production and for this 2 big dams are being constructed after 50 years which will bring additional water to the farmers besides small dams. And canals are being built.
He said that in our Rs. 30 billion transformation plan, Rs. 200 billion has been allocated only for paving canals. We have talked with China and included agriculture in the C-pack as there is much more production than us. So we can benefit from their experiences.
Imran Khan said that Pakistan’s best agricultural research institutes which went down due to lack of attention are being renovated and we are now trying to grow pulses, oilseeds, soybeans, spaghetti in Pakistan because they We import from abroad.
He said that Pakistan is the lucky country where most of the area is between 15 to 38 degrees Celsius, which means we can grow anything, we benefit a lot from the blessings of Allah. We don’t have to import anything.
He further said that our farmers are still using the same method that was used in Moinjo Daro 5,000 years ago, new things have not been thought of so extension services are going to be given to private companies as government extension services have done exactly that. Not delivered.
“That’s why we will bring in the private sector. Extension services mean that a certain person will go to the farmers in their respective areas and tell them the new techniques that are much needed. Our agriculture is basic,” he said. 96 to 97% of farmers are small farmers who grow produce for their caste.
The Prime Minister said that through extension service, they would be trained to increase their production so that besides keeping for themselves, they would also sell and prosper.
“Pakistan has the seventh or eighth highest number of cows and buffaloes in the world, but we still import milk because our production is low and Rs 40 billion has been allocated to improve the breeds of these cattle, because of which in one to two years time conditions will become much better
