Meeting Discusses Measures for Improving Crop Yield

A meeting of the committee formed by the Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif for crop yield improvement was held under the chairmanship of Federal Minister for National Food Security and Research Tariq Bashir Cheema on Thursday. The prime minister had constituted the committee to suggest measures for improvement in agriculture productivity and to review steps for the availability of quality seeds, inputs, and farm machinery. Cheema said that this forum provides an opportunity to take a comprehensive stock of the agriculture sector and find ways to improve its yield and productivity. He said that all efforts should be made to uplift the agriculture sector and bring farmers at par with their international counterparts. While briefing the committee, Food Security Commissioner Waseem Ul Hassan said that progressive farmers in Pakistan have a higher yield per acre compared to the country’s average. State Bank of Pakistan Deputy Governor Sima Kamil told the committee that 45 percent of the annual financing target of PM’s Kissan Package has been achieved. She added that an amount of Rs. 444 billion has been disbursed for farming purposes while Rs. 401 billion has been disbursed for livestock, benefiting 3.2 million farming households. The commercial banks will soon start to disburse Rs. 56 billion for farm mechanization, she added. The minister said that he will brief the prime minister on the suggestions of the committee.