PM #NawazSharif announces Rs 341bn relief package for farmers >>

Direct cash support, soft loans introduced for progressive agriculture, reducing production cost of crops

ISLAMABAD – Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif on Tuesday announced a mega Rs 341 billion relief package for small farmers including direct cash support and provision of soft agriculture loans.

Addressing at the Farmers Convention here at the Jinnah Convention Centre, the prime minister said that the package was aimed at introducing progressive agriculture on scientific lines, reducing production cost of crops and make the small farmers prosperous.

Nawaz said that Pakistan’s development was directly related to the uplift of its agriculture sector, particularly farmers. He said that under the package, small farmers would get the chunk of Rs 147 billion as direct benefit while Rs 194 billion had been allocated for agriculture loans.

He said that the farmers cultivating rice and cotton at up to 12.5 acres of land would be given cash support of Rs 5,000 per acre. He added that the government on this facility would bear the cost of Rs 20 billion each for rice and cotton crops.

The prime minister said that the global cost reduction of agriculture commodities had affected the income of farmers beside increase in prices of seeds, fertilizer and pesticides – which had resultantly enhanced the cost production.

Nawaz announced setting up a Rs 20 billion fund to reduce prices of fertilizers which will lessen Rs 500 per bag of Potassium and Nitrate fertilizers. He also said that the government was negotiating with local fertilizer manufacturers and gas companies to revert the increase in prices of fertilizers which had gone up by Rs 200 per bag.

He said that it had been decide to provide Liquified Natural Gas (LNG) to fertilizer companies to overcome the shortage of gas supply.


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