BY UZMA ZAFFAR
ISLAMABAD: Recognizing the importance of the agriculture sector, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif-led government has initiated several measures to support and promote the farmers and agriculture sector in the country. These measures include financial assistance, infrastructure development, subsidy on electricity, and the provision of agriculture machinery and inputs such as seeds and fertilizers.
To address the needs of flood-affected farmers in the country, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif announced a historic relief package worth Rs 1.8 trillion in October 2022, for benefiting the poor farmers, especially those who sustained damages and loss to cultivated land of cotton and sugarcane during the devastating floods last year.
The Rs 1.8 trillion special Kissan Package was formally announced by Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on October 31, 2022 aimed at promoting the agriculture sector and providing farmers, particularly in flood-hit areas free seeds, inexpensive loans and bringing down prices of fertilizers and electricity for tubewells.
Announcing the agriculture package, the prime minister said the economic progress of Pakistan was dependent on the agriculture sector and Rs 1800 billion spending on agriculture would be an increase of Rs 400 billion as compared to the last year.
Under the package, the government allocated interest-free loans of Rs 10.6 billion for small farmers across the country while another Rs 8 billion would be given to the small farmers in the flood-affected areas.
Likewise, for the first time in history, the Prime Minister Youth Business and Agriculture Loan Scheme was also introduced under the package to engage youth in the agriculture sector to get maximum dividends for the young population, besides providing them employment opportunities in this sector.
The agriculture loan is an important component of Prime Minister Kissan Package to revive Pakistan’s agriculture sector, particularly restoring the agriculture of areas affected by catastrophic floods during monsoon season.
The government disbursed Rs 1,222 billion in agriculture loans during the first nine months of the fiscal year 2022-23 out of the total agriculture credit target of Rs 1,819 billion for the current fiscal year.
The increased disbursement of agriculture credit and other subsidies on the agriculture inputs under the package have resulted in an unprecedented increase in per acre production of wheat crops this year in the country.
The Kissan package also included interest-free loans of Rs 50 billion for the unemployed youth in the agriculture sector of rural areas across the country. Furthermore, under the package, the prices of DAP fertilizer are reduced by Rs 2500 per bag, resulting in a benefit of Rs 58 billion to the farmers.
Under the package, 1.2 million bags of certified seeds worth Rs 13.20 billion are being distributed among the farmers while the landless farmers in the flood-affected areas would be given Rs 5 billion besides the provision of loans of Rs 10 billion to small and medium enterprises working in the agriculture sector for modernization schemes.
The second-hand five-year-old tractors are being imported with a relaxation of 50 percent in duties and the government would also encourage the entry of new tractor manufacturers by decreasing duty on completely knocked-down kits from 35 percent to 15 percent.
A subsidy of Rs 30 billion for the provision of urea fertilizer to the farmers at a lower cost is also included in the package under which half a million tonnes of urea is being imported.
Similarly, under the Prime Minister Kissan Package, the government also set a target of providing interest-free loans for the solarization of 300,000 tubewells across the country.
The Kissan package received an overwhelming response, especially from the business community and farmers’ associations across the country who termed the package a revolutionary step by the prime minister. They said the package would not only bring agricultural revolution but Pakistan would also be able to export its surplus food at their dictated rates.
