Punjab government initiative of formulating a comprehensive Punjab Agriculture Policy will help address the issues of farming community:Balighur Rehman

Punjab government initiative of formulating  a comprehensive Punjab Agriculture Policy will help address the issues of farming community:Balighur Rehman

BAHAWALPUR(PR) State Minister for Education Balighur Rehman has said that the Punjab government initiative of formulating  a comprehensive Punjab Agriculture Policy will help address the issues of farming community and ensure the food security as the Punjab is hub of agriculture produces countywide.

He addressed a seminar on Punjab Agriculture Policy arranged by University of Agriculture Faisalabad (UAF),  Muhammad Nawaz Shareef University of Agriculture Multan (MNS-UAM), and Regional Agriculture Research Station here  on Sunday.

UAF Vice Chancellor Prof Dr Iqrar Ahmad Khan, MNS-UAM Vice Chancellor Prof Dr Asif Ali, IUB Vice Chancellor Prof Dr Qaiser Mushtaq,  progressive farmers Malik Habib Ullah, Haji Muhammad Arshad, Azhara Shiekh, Abdul Rahman Fahim and other notables also spoke on the occasion.      

He said that the N League government was making all out efforts to address the problems of the farming community.  He added that  the government had brought the Kissan package to provide relief to the farming community.  He said that that the government was setting up a livestock university in the Bahawalpur that will help provide a trained manpower in the area. He added that the Cholistan area was having the livestock which is heat tolerant. The research on the livestock must be carried out to multiply it. He said hat that education has become the government’s one of top priorities.  He also stressed upon the need to carry out the applied researches addressing the problems of a common man.  

Talking about the education, he added that the government had double the education budget. It was Rs 41 billion three year ago, he said, adding that now it had raised to Rs 91 billion.  

Talking about water reservoirs, he said that the government was taking the sincere efforts to build the new reserves including the Bhasha Dam, Dasu dam and others. He said that the government had overcome the power outages by kicking off new projects.

He said that loads shedding will end and reduce the prices of the electricity by 2018. He congratulated Prof Dr Iqrar Ahmad Khan for writing the Punjab Agriculture Policy that will move the agricultural policy to the new height of the progress.

Prof Dr Iqrar A Khan while giving the details called for making the agriculture competitive, profitable and sustainable through enablement, efficiency and value addition.    He said the agriculture policy will focus on land and water reservation; yield gap; diversification,  post harvest losses, market issues, gender mainstreaming and value addition.  

He showed his concern that the farming community was facing tremendous problems. Keeping in view,  the government is making all-out efforts to address the issue. He said that the policy will focus on making the agriculture profitable and food security with the sustainability.  He said that by ensuring quality seed, machinery, balanced fertilizer and weed management, we cannot increase the productivity but also make the sector profitable.

He said that at the time of independence, the country population was 35 million which had touched to 180 million   200 million. He also suggested increasing  the investment in the skill development. He said that we are only focusing on five crops whereas we have the climate  to grow more than 300 crops. We need a diversification to make the agriculture a profitable business.

Dr Asif Ali said that agriculture sector was directly linked to the poverty alleviation as the most of our population was depending upon the sector. He said that it was a matter of concern that the fertile agricultural land is being converted to the residential colonies. He said the agriculture policy  was a hallmark  step that will bring the prosperity in the agriculture sectror. He also lauded the efforts being made on the part of the government to uplift the sector with tangible initiatives   

All the stakeholders, farming community and others appreciated the efforts of Prof Dr Iqrar A Khan to devise the comprehensive policy that will open up new horizons of development in the country.