The Finance Ministry has approved over a dozen new development projects in the agriculture sector, mainly focusing on Balochistan province, while there is only one NWFP-specific project in the development plan for the next fiscal despite upward revision in the Food and Agriculture Ministry's allocation from over Rs 3,000 million to Rs 7,400 million.
The new projects included in the plan were approved without PC-1 in view of enhancement in the volume of 2004-05 Public Sector Development Programme (PSDP) from the proposed Rs 180 billion to Rs 202 billion by the National Economic Council (NEC).
"Around Rs 22 million were allocated for the ongoing tea research and development programme (Mansehra, Swat and Abbotabad) in the whole PSDP of the Ministry of Food, Agriculture and Livestock (Minfal)," sources in the NWFP government told Business Recorder here on Thursday.
There is no new NWFP-specific project approved under the next year's development plan, the sources said.
Out of 13 or 14 new projects, at least five were earmarked specifically for Balochistan, apart from five to six uplift schemes approved for the same province in the PSDP initially submitted by the Minfal.
A Rs 70 million Chaghai water and development programme, Rs 5.5 million oil-palm development pilot project, Rs 10.5 million strengthening of animal quarantine station in Quetta with Rs 16 million capacity enhancement of regional plan quarantine station Quetta, Rs 4.9 million establishment of post entry quarantine station, Rs 11.98 million sunflower cultivation in Balochistan, Rs 16 million pesticide quality control and registration lab in Balochistan and Rs 20 million promotion and expansion of trickle irrigation system are some of the new initiatives to be taken in Balochistan during the next fiscal, the sources said.
The total funds are around Rs 160 million for Balochistan-specific projects, which is an unprecedented budgetary allocation for the province in agriculture sector.
The sources said Rs 388 million strengthening of veterinary service for livestock diseases in Pakistan (eradication of rinder-pest) and Rs 28.14 agri-business development plan are the two schemes that have a major foreign aid components of Rs 310 million and Rs 24 million respectively.
Around Rs 4,000 million is the major share in the revised PSDP which will go to the national programme for improvement of water courses out of the total allocation of Rs 7,400 million against Rs 2,080.47 million for the outgoing fiscal.
Other major components of the Minfal's PSDP is Rs 2,000 million for agriculture development sector loan, which was a little over Rs 300 million in the last budget's development plan. There are only two WTO-related projects in the PSDP with a total allocation of Rs 12 million.
The 2004-05 PSDP of the Minfal comprises 56 projects against 49 development schemes in the last year's development budget.
The Finance Ministry has directed the Minfal to submit the PC-1s of the new approved projects as early as possible as the new projects were approved under special directives of Prime Minister Mir Zafarullah Khan Jamali.
The prime minister, the sources said, is keen to develop agriculture sector and, therefore, 13 or 14 projects were approved despite failure of the project managers to submit PC-1s for the new schemes.